PRINCETON, N.J. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Tennis Championship came to an end on Sunday, with host Princeton defeating Columbia 4-3 in a thrilling final to collect the conference crown. The Tigers have now played in the championship in three straight years, winning in 2024 before falling in the finals last season.
 
Columbia and Princeton came into the tournament as the top two seeds respectively, and they had combined to outscore opponents 16-0 for the weekend entering play Sunday. The final began with the Tigers earning the doubles point, with the tandem of juniors Paul Inchauspe and Landon Ardila closing out the top flight to grab the early lead.
 
Aleksandar Mitric picked up a 6-1, 6-1 singles victory on Court 6 to make it 2-0 in favor of Princeton, but Thanaphat Boosarawongse got Columbia on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the fourth flight. Nicolas Kotzen pulled the Lions even with a three-set win on Court 2, but Inchauspe answered with a three-set victory of his own to put the Tigers on the brink of a clinch.
 
Abhishek Thorat defeated Milan Markovits 6-3 in the third set on Court 5 to once again tie it up, and all eyes turned to Court 3. After two incredibly close sets, Ardila outlasted Columbia’s Sachin Palta 6-1 in the final set, giving the Tigers their second championship in three seasons.
 
Princeton now stands at 9-3 on the season, and they have already won matches in five different states.  

Sunday Results
ECAC Indoor Championship: Princeton def. Columbia 4-3  

• Doubles (3, 2, 1)
  1. Inchauspe/Ardila (Princeton) def. N. Kotzen/Ena (Columbia) 6-4   
  2. Palta/Zheng (Columbia) def. Nidunjianzan/Bigun (Princeton) 6-4
  3. Sec/Mitric (Princeton) def. Boosarawongse/Govila (Columbia) 6-1   

 

• Singles (6, 4, 2, 1, 5, 3)
  1. Inchaupse (Princeton) def. Zheng (Columbia) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
  2. N. Kotzen (Columbia) def. Nidunjianzan (Princeton) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4  
  3. Ardila (Princeton) def. Palta (Columbia) 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
  4. Boosarawongse (Columbia) def. Sec (Princeton) 6-4, 6-4  
  5. Thorat (Columbia) def. Markovits (Princeton) 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
  6. Mitric (Princeton) def. Govila (Columbia) 6-1, 6-1

 
3rd-place match: Cornell def. Penn 4-2

• Doubles (2, 1, 3)
  1. Graziani/Sandler (Penn) Fernandes/Verdes (Cornell) 6-4
  2. Khosia/Senthil Kumar (Cornell) def. Vales/S. Bharadwaj (Penn) 6-3
  3. Pinzon/Teodorovic (Cornell) def. P. Bharadwaj/Spurling (Penn) 6-4

 

• Singles (5, 6, 4, 1, 2)
  1. Fernandes (Cornell) def. Graziani (Penn) 6-4, 6-3
  2. Verdes (Cornell) def. Butera (Penn) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
  3. Teodorovic (Cornell) vs. S. Bharadwaj (Penn) unfinished   
  4. Chung (Penn) def. Pinzon (Cornell) 6-2, 6-3  
  5. Kumar (Cornell) def. Bain (Penn) 6-0, 6-4
  6. Vales (Penn) def. Khosla (Cornell) 6-3, 6-2

 
5th-place match: Harvard def. Yale 4-2

• Doubles (2, 1, 3)
  1. Gogineni/Liao (Yale) def. Privara/Blokhin (Harvard) 6-3
  2. Murali/Kincses (Harvard) def. Shuler/Tsoi (Yale) 6-2  
  3. Li/Chung (Yale) def. McDonald/Perera (Harvard) 6-4

 

• Singles (3, 6, 4, 1, 2)
  1. Gogineni (Yale) def. Privara (Harvard) 7-6, 6-3
  2. Murali (Harvard) def. Liao (Yale) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1  
  3. Blokhin (Harvard) def. Shuler (Yale) 6-3, 6-1
  4. Perera (Harvard) def. Ji (Yale) 6-4, 6-4
  5. Lee (Harvard) vs. Chung (Yale) unfinished
  6. Ktiri (Harvard) def. Verma (Yale) 6-4, 6-3  

7th-place match: Dartmouth def. Brown 4-3

• Doubles (3, 1, 2)
  1. Groom/Ren (Dartmouth) def. Sodan/Bravo (Brown) 6-3
  2. Bao/Halmos (Dartmouth) def. Phimvongsa/Hernandez (Brown) 7-6
  3. Murphy/Wasserman (Brown) def. Wang/Treacy (Dartmouth) 6-2

 

• Singles (1,3, 2, 4, 5, 6)
  1. Sodan (Brown) def. Ren (Dartmouth) 6-1, 6-2
  2. Phimvongsa (Brown) def. Halmos (Dartmouth) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
  3. Hernandez (Brown) def. Treacy (Dartmouth) 6-2, 7-5
  4. Groom (Dartmouth) def. Yang (Brown) 6-1, 6-3  
  5. Pade (Dartmouth) def. Wasserman (Brown) 6-3, 7-5
  6. Bao (Dartmouth) def. Bravo (Brown) 6-3, 6-2

  
Final Standings

1. Princeton
2. Columbia
3. Cornell
4. Penn
5. Harvard
6. Yale
7. Dartmouth
8. Brown