NEW YORK – The sixth-ranked Columbia men’s tennis team will host two Top 20 opponents at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center this weekend as the Lions face No. 2 Wake Forest on Saturday and No. 20 Michigan on Sunday. Both matches are set for a 1 p.m. first serve.
LIVE COVERAGE
Action from the Milstein Family Tennis Center this weekend will be broadcast live through Columbia’s stretch portal. Fans can also follow live scores online for both matches this weekend.
LIONS IN THE ITA RANKINGS
Columbia was represented well in the ITA singles and doubles rankings released this week. Three Lions are ranked inside the top 50 of singles, while five doubles pairs earned rankings.
Michael Zheng continues to sit at the top of the ITA Division I singles rankings after claiming the NCAA title in November. Nicolas Kotzen sits at No. 40 and Hugo Hashimoto follows at No. 41.
The duo of Zheng and Hashimoto earned the highest doubles ranking for the Lions at No. 14. Zheng and Kotzen came in at No. 45 and Kotzen and Westphal secured a No. 47 ranking to finish in the top 50. Hashimoto and Jayden Templeman are ranked No. 62. Sachin Palta and Westphal round out the list of ranked Lions at No. 86.
Singles
#1 – Michael Zheng
#40 – Nicolas Kotzen
#41 – Hugo Hashimoto
Doubles
#14 – Michael Zheng, Hugo Hashimoto
#45 – Michael Zheng, Nicolas Kotzen
#47 – Nicolas Kotzen, Max Westphal
#62 – Hugo Hashimoto, Jayden Templeman
#86 – Sachin Palta, Max Westphal
LAST TIME OUT
Columbia defeated Hofstra and No. 21 NC State last weekend at home to improve to 4-0 overall this season. The Lions dominated with a 7-0 sweep of Hofstra as Michael Zheng, Nicolas Kotzen, Max Westphal, Hugo Hashimoto, Thanaphat Boosarawongse and Jayden Templeman all posted singles victories. The duos of Kotzen and Zheng and Hashimoto and Templeman earned wins in doubles action.
The Lions had another impressive showing to finish last weekend with a 4-1 win over NC State. Zheng and Kotzen and Hashimoto and Templeman again earned doubles victories to get the match started. Zheng, Kotzen and Templeman won their singles matches to help Columbia finish off the win. Zheng and Kotzen earned victories over ranked opponents.
THE OPPONENTS
Wake Forest enters the weekend with a 9-0 overall record this season. The Demon Deacons are coming off a 4-3 win over No. 3 Ohio State last weekend. Wake Forest also defeated Georgia at home last weekend to stay undefeated. Columbia and Wake Forest will meet for the second straight season after the Demon Deacons won last year’s contest, 5-2.
Michigan sits at 4-1 overall to start the season. The Wolverines most recently posted a 4-3 victory over Harvard last Sunday. The Wolverines fell to NC State last Friday before NC State traveled to New York to play at Columbia. The Lions and Wolverines will also meet for the second straight season after Columbia earned a 4-2 victory over Michigan in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Men’s Tennis by following the Lions on X (@CULionsMTEN), Instagram (@culionsmten) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
