The No. 1 ranked Emory men's tennis team (7-1) played on the outdoor courts at the Woodruff P.E. Center for the first time this season, welcoming No. 10 ranked Denison to Atlanta for a dual match on Wednesday. The match was a thriller, coming down to the final singles match to decide a winner. The Eagles won the battle, as graduate student Justin Waldman fought through the heat and pulled out a gritty 7-5 decision in the third set to secure a 5-4 win for the Eagles on court four.
The Eagles opened the day strong, winning two of the three doubles matches before splitting the singles portion of the afternoon. Sophomore Dean Kamenev and senior Nolan Shah swiftly handled their opponents on court two, pulling away with an 8-3 win in one of their strongest performances of the spring. Emory's top doubles tandem of seniors Ryan Glanville and Brandon Cohen were impressive as well, taking an 8-5 decision to secure the Eagles' second point of the afternoon.
Freshman Christian Liew and senior Samuel Dean were the final duo to wrap up their match. The two battled for every point, but ultimately came up just short as they narrowly fell in their match, 8-7.
Heading into the singles portion of the day, Emory held a 2-1 lead. Liew quickly avenged his doubles falter with a two-set sweep of his opponent on court five. The rookie won both sets by a score of 6-2, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead. Liew now improves to 7-1 in singles matches this season, playing primarily out of the No. 4 and 5 position.
Glanville took court three, looking to ride the momentum from his doubles win. The senior traded points with his opponent through two sets, but ultimately fell short. He lost in two sets, 6-2 and 7-5, handing Denison their first singles point of the day.
Senior Emilio Van Cotthem took the No. 6 position, looking to keep Eagles in the lead. He did just that, securing Emory's fourth point of the match with a two-set sweep, 6-4 and 6-3. With the win, he improves to 5-2 on the year.
With three matches left to be decided and owning a 4-2 lead, the Eagles were searching for one more point to clinch the win.
Shah, playing on court two, competed in a tug-of-war with his opponent. However, he lost in two close sets by scores of 7-6 and 6-4 as Denison cut the Emory lead to 4-3.
Playing in the No. 1 position, Kamenev suffered his second singles loss of the season taking on Denison's Jacob Patterson, falling in three sets (3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0)). The sophomore forced a tiebreaker in the third and final set, but Patterson handedly won the bout, 7-0, to tie the match up at four points apiece.
It all came down to court four, where Waldman met with Denison's Andy Mackler. The two traded attacks, neither one being able to pull away from the other. Mackler dominated the first set, winning 6-2, before Waldman rallied to win the second set 6-4. The third set was a back-and-forth battle, each fighting for every point. Fighting through cramps and the Atlanta heat, Waldman ultimately prevailed in the final set, winning 7-5 to secure the Emory win.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 7-1 on the year, including a 4-0 record against teams ranked in the top-10 of the ITA National Rankings. Emory will take the next week off before taking a road trip next weekend. The Eagles will start with a match against Amherst on Thursday in Trinity, Texas before taking on Trinity on Friday. They'll wrap up the weekend with a bout against Berry on Sunday.