Believe it or not, amidst both the Stag-Hen and all the crazy Pool-C shenanigans in Florida we still have more tennis to discuss! We have a top-10 battle as Brandeis visits Middlebury on Saturday, and we have Tufts beginning their spring break out in southern California at Caltech. Both of these teams are coming off bad losses last weekend and will be looking to bounce back with a very solid win. NewRegional is along for the ride today and I think he might just be brash enough to pick a Brandeis upset…
#10 Brandeis @ #2 Middlebury
NE’s Initial Thoughts: I’ve had this one circled on the calendar ever since Brandeis beat PP out on their spring break a few weeks ago. Not because I believe Brandeis is going to continue their touched by an angel season, but because Midd should provide a different sort of barometer for exactly how good the Judges really are. While some coaches believe there are no such things a moral victories, we unbiased (lol) tennis bloggers know in our heart of hearts that’s not true. Seeing how Brandeis stacks up against the defending champions and current title front runners will tell us just how wide the gap is between them and a possible Pool-C bid.
On the flipside, we also have Middlebury’s toughest test yet this spring, and a decent measuring stick for the Panthers as well. If Midd comes out strong and walks over Brandeis, it confirms their position as one of the best in the country. If they struggle, it might cause some doubts and possibly even knock them down out of the group of title favorites.
NewRegional’s Initial Thoughts: Wow, what a weekend we’ve got coming up as we have a ton of Northeast teams playing all across the country in California, Texas, Florida and throughout the Northeast. While there is plenty of tennis to be excited about, I cannot wait for this absolute banger between Brandeis and Middlebury. Two top ten teams with different lineup strengths should lead to some great tennis. Brandeis has a hell of a weekend planned as they play RPI on Friday, Midd on Saturday and Colby on Sunday, so it’s a good thing that they have a lot of depth. The Judges will surely be the underdogs in this match, but can they pull the upset?
Match by Match Preview
#1 doubles: Cuba/Eazor (Midd) vs Aizenberg/Coramutla (Brandeis)
NE: Big match right off the bat! We all know that doubles is Brandeis’ signature strength, and even though they are both top-10 teams Deis ABSOLUTELY HAS TO have a doubles lead to win this match. All three spots have been strong for Deis so far this year, but this will undoubtedly be the toughest team Aiz/Cora have played yet this year. Cuba has won back to back doubles titles for crying out loud. Until proven otherwise, go with #Lube. Midd 8-5.
NewRegional: If Brandeis is going to have a chance at taking down the defending champs, they are probably going to need to sweep doubles, but they will absolutely need to win this match. Aiz and Coramutla are 4-1 on the year, their best wins coming over Tufts and Caltech. Lubo is an NCAA doubles champion, so there’s no doubting his doubles ability. Though Eazor didn’t play too much doubles last year, the duo beat JT Wynne and Noah WIlliamson 8-0 when Midd played Skidmore, so it certainly doesn’t look like chemistry is an issue. Midd has the best player on the court, but I think the Judges dig in and get a must-have point for their team. Brandeis: 8-7(5)
#2 doubles: Farrell/Martin (Midd) vs Chen/Tzeng (Brandeis)
NE: Another battle of strengths. Farrell and Martin have the chemistry as they’ve been playing together on and off for a while now. Tzeng and Chen have propbalby been the strongest spot for the Judges all year long and have some very impressive wins in 2019. Gimme the Judges to keep this one interesting. Brandeis 8-6.
NewRegional: This has been Deis’ strongest spot so far, as Chen and Tzeng haven’t lost this year, even moving up to #1 against CMS and taking down Gordy/Parodi. Farrell is a great returner and Martin was a mainstay in the Panthers’ doubles lineup last year with Van der Geest, but I can’t bet against a team that has looked so strong this year. Brandeis: 8-5
#3 doubles: Samets/Xiao (Midd) vs Ng/Tegtmeier (Brandeis)
NE: As good as the first two doubles spots are, this is the biggest toss up for me. Tegt is Ng’s partner du jour but might be in for the long hall now. Vohra and Ng were very successful earlier in the year too, so I was a little surprised to see the change, but you’ve gotta trust Coach Lamanna. Likewise, this is the question mark team for Midd, and I think this is a match Brandeis needs to win…however in a toss up match you pick the side of the team you think will eventually win. Midd 8-7 (3).
NewRegional: Brandeis has been changing up their #3 team, as Ng, Tegtmeier, Das and Vohra have all played at this spot. Ng and Tegtmeier picked up a win against Bates but then fell to Tufts. Samets is a junior that hasn’t played too much for Midd in the past, so it’s nice to see him work his way into the lineup, and Xiao played singles but not doubles last year. Samets/Xiao took our the #3 team from Skidmore in a breaker in their previous test this season. This is a match that can go either way, but I think Middlebury takes the point to prevent a Brandeis sweep. Midd: 8-6
#1 singles: Lubo Cuba (Midd) vs David Aizenberg (Brandeis)
NE: If you had to pick one guy to win the NCAA title this year, who would it be? Urken? Parodi? Jemison? Nope. The one guy who has been the most consistently great over the past few years is Lubo Cuba. Aizenberg has been playing well to start the spring, and give credit where credit is due he’s been better than expected. I thought Deis had 4 or 5 good #3 players, so they would struggle at #1, but DA has solid. That said, this would be the biggest win of his career. Not today. Midd 6-4, 6-2.
NewRegional: Aizenberg has been a solid #1 this year with his best win coming over Jed Kronenberg from Pomona, but Lubo has been really good for two years in a row. Though the senior is prone to a mental lapse now and then, I can’t pick against the former #1 player in the country. Midd: 6-3, 6-3
#2 singles: Noah Farrell (Midd) vs Anupreeth Coramutla (Brandeis)
NE: Coramutla has some good wins so far this year, but they tend to be against good schools with weaker #2 players. Farrell will undoubtedly be one of the strongest #2’s in both the region and the country. He gets to everything and while he might be hurt a bit from playing indoors, it’s not enough to make him any less of a favorite. Midd 6-1, 6-4.
NewRegional: At #2, we’ve got another former #1 player in the country in Noah Farrell who’s back for his senior season. Noah battles for every point and will grind you down from the baseline with heavy topspin off of the forehand side and a powerful backhand that he rips crosscourt. Coramutla has been playing a nice #2 for Brandeis this year with his best wins coming against Pomona, Bates and Tufts. Though Coramutla’s game is nicely suited for indoors, the precision of Farrell gets it done. Midd: 6-4, 6-2
#3 singles: Stanley Morris (Midd) vs Adam Tzeng (Brandeis)
NE: If there was a live feed from Vermont this is the singles match I would be watching. Two of the best freshmen in the region, with very different stories. Morris wasn’t the biggest name of his class, had a breakout fall and now finds himself playing in the top half of the singles lineup for the defending champs. Tzeng was very highly touted and I had him playing even higher than this in my projected Brandeis lineup. He’s been hitting a great ball of late and has been rewarded with a move up from #4 to #3 singles. This should be a good one. Brandeis 7-5, 3-6, 10-7
NewRegional: Stanley Morris made some noise this fall, winning the B flight at the Midd Invitational, and he’s slotting in at #3. Tzeng has played a solid #4 for Brandeis and recently got moved up to #3 for the Tufts match. I haven’t seen much of Morris, but he had a little bit of a battle with Travis Leaf of Skidmore last weekend. Tzeng has been on a roll lately, and I think the roll continues on Saturday. Brandeis: 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
#4 singles: Andre Xiao (Midd) vs Nikhil Das (Brandeis)
NE: Normally I’d be touting Xiao’s national championship experience and blah blah blah, but the fact that Das took it to the Panther sophomore in the fall means something here. You might say that a fall tournament result doesn’t matter nearly as much, but it does when they are going to play indoors again (the high isn’t supposed to crack 40 at Midd this weekend so they’ll be playing indoors). I’ll take Das in a battle that is sure to be sophomoric. Brandeis 6-4, 6-4.
NewRegional: Das is a really interesting player in that his movement doesn’t look great, but he still manages to track down a lot of balls and slap off both wings. Xiao cracked the lineup for Midd as a freshman last year and played a good, not great #6. Das and Xiao played this fall and Das took a 6-2, 6-2 win. I’m going to go with Das again. Brandeis: 7-5, 6-3
#5 singles: Adam Guo (Midd) vs Jeff Chen (Brandeis)
NE: Guo is still a big wild card for me. I had him projected to be out of the starting lineup to start the year, and certainly behind Eazor. This means one of two things. One: Adam is playing the best tennis of his career, or two: the bottom of Midd’s lineup isn’t as amazing as in previous years. While it’s probably some combo of the two, I lean more towards the former. Midd 7-6 (2), 6-2.
NewRegional: Just like Adam Tzeng, Jeff Chen has looked very good in his first year for Brandeis, while Guo has opened his season with two routine wins. This is another rematch from the fall, and one that Guo won 7-6, 6-4. While this is definitely a match that could go either way, I think Guo takes it in 3. Midd: 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 CLINCH!
#6 singles: Nate Eazor (Midd) vs Tyler Ng/Rajan Vohra (Brandeis)
NE: After the top two this is probably Midd’s next biggest advantage. I had Eazor pegged to be playing #3 or #4 this spring, especially after he was seeded at the fall ITA, but so long as Nasty Nate is doing his thing and getting consistent wins I’m sure he’ll be happy. Midd 6-2, 6-2.
NewRegional: I thought Eazor would have been playing higher in the lineup than this, but he played #6 against Skidmore. If he plays 6 the whole year, I think he can be one of the best 6’s in the country. Vohra and Ng have both been rotating at #6 this year, and they’ve both played well, but not well enough to entrench themselves in the lienup. This won’t be a blowout by any means, but regardless of who Brandeis puts out there, he will be the underdog. Midd: 6-2, 6-4
Final Score Predictions
NE: Midd: 6-3 (but it’s not that close…)
NewRegional: Midd: 5-4
#22 Tufts @ #29 Caltech
NE’s Initial Thoughts: We haven’t seen enough of Tufts yet to justify a match by match preview, as I’d be willing to bet good money their lineup is at least a little different than the last time we saw them against Brandeis last weekend. The Jumbos played Deis close in doubles, which is actually a solid result even if they went down 2-1. Sorkin did his thing, taking down Aizenberg 3&2 at #1 singles, but the only other Jumbo to win more than three games in a set was Bartok down at #6 singles (who lost 14-12 in a super to Rajan Vohra). To be fair, Deis’ strength is the middle of their lineup, but I’m sure Coach Gregor was expecting more from his guys. Caltech has had a very solid season so far, even with their recent loss 8-1 to Skidmore, and their strength is their singles, so Tufts will need to come out firing early and look to pounce in doubles. Sorkin vs Shanker should be an amazing match as Varun has recently entered the conversation as one of the best players in the region (and maybe more!) Before the season started I would have taken Tufts at least 6-3 without any second thoughts; however, after Caltech’s strong start coupled with Tufts’ showing at Deis AND the fact that this will be Tufts’ first outdoor match of the season, makes me feel like this is pretty close to a toss up.
New Regional’s Thoughts: Had Caltech not lost 8-1 to Skidmore earlier this week, I would have penciled in an upset for the Beavers, but now I’m Monday morning quarterbacking on a Friday afternoon. As NE mentions above, Tufts played Brandeis pretty close in doubles, and now that those teams have a tough match under their belt. You know the Jumbos are going to bring the fire in every match they play, and they head into this match with something to prove. In order for Caltech to win, they are going to have to limit Boris to one point. Either Wei/Shanker need to rebound from a loss to Skidmore, or Shanker needs to up his level just a little bit (he’s been really good this year, but Boris is the best player in the country). #3 doubles has been a mess for the Beavers, but their #3 team has been solid. I think Tufts takes #2, Caltech takes #3 and it’ll come down to #1 to see who heads into singles up 2-1. In singles, James Wei has been having himself a great year, and that’s a point Caltech is going to need. The bottom of the lineup has been up and down, but slightly more up than down, and I think the Beavers get those 2 wins in doubles, and ride singles wins at #’s 2, 4 and 6 to take down the Jumbos!
Final Score Predictions
NE: Tufts def Caltech 5-4
NewRegional: Caltech def Tufts 5-4