Dartmouth’s men’s tennis team continues to prove itself in the Ivy League, as the squad charged past Yale University and Brown University last weekend, picking up 4-1 and 4-2 wins, respectively. The weekend sweep put the Big Green back in the national rankings at no. 73 with less than a week left of regular season play.
The Friday afternoon win over Yale was the Big Green’s first Ivy League win of the spring season. At the time of the match, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 53 in Division 1 but Dartmouth’s 4-1 win improved the Big Green’s record to 12-8 while Yale dropped to no. 60 in rankings.
Alex Knox-Jones ’25 was proud of his team’s victories and the fruitful outcome of the matches last week.
“I looked over at all the courts, and I was feeling really confident everyone was going to give their best, and we came out on top.” Knox-Jones said. “To finally get over that line and over that mental block of beating another Ivy team and to do so convincingly was a good feeling, especially at home.”
Support from fans and students can go a long way at a home match. In the number two singles Henry Ren ’26 edged out the Bulldogs’ Edward Liao 7-6, 6-4.
“In the second set it was really close,” Carlos Guerrero Alvarez ’25 said. “Henry got a break, which was huge, and the crowd got really into it. I think that helped put some pressure on [Liao], and he felt the momentum that Henry had going into the closing game of the match.”
Following Ren’s success last weekend, where he won both his singles and doubles matches, he was named one of the Richards Group Athletes of the Week, representing his outstanding performance as a student-athlete. Each week, two athletes — one male and one female — are selected to receive the honor.
On Sunday, the Big Green faced Brown University in Providence – hitting the road for the final time this season. The team secured their second win of the weekend, with a 4-2 victory over the Bears.
At number three doubles, Knox-Jones and Denny Bao ’28 maintained their hot streak, continuing to a 6-0 record as a duo and 2-0 record in Ivy play. Knox-Jones spoke highly of the freshmen-senior dynamic when reflecting on his time playing doubles with Bao.
“Our game styles match pretty well with the way we play,” Knox-Jones said. “We’re quite similar people; we’re two of the smaller guys on the team so we have to rely on our skills a bit more because we can't really hit through people. The fact that we both do that means we bounce off each other well, and we understand each other’s games very well.”
In both of the weekend’s matches, Hikaru Takeda ’25 won his third singles matches. Against Yale, he picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win, while he squeaked out a three-setter against Brown 6-2, 6-7, 6-4.
“I had a game plan before I played my match,” Takeda said. “I rewatched my previous match so that I could construct my pattern, especially for Yale. I played against a guy I won against really confidently last time, so I felt confident in terms of not altering my game plan.”
This upcoming weekend, the team will face no. 36 Cornell and no. 9 Columbia, both at home. Within the Ivy League, Cornell sits at third while Columbia holds the top spot. In the last match of the regular season, senior athletes will be recognized.
“It’s a great opportunity to celebrate the guys,” head coach Justin Desantos said. “It’s always great to play your last match at home, and to have that opportunity to close the year out and give those guys a send-off at their home courts, it’s just really big.”
DeSantos also mentioned that both of the upcoming opponents’ number one singles players are nationally ranked. Cornell’s Radu Papoe is currently ranked no. 59 and Columbia’s Michael Zheng holds the no. 1 spot in Division 1.
“They’re two pretty tough opponents; they’re really high ranked in the nation,” Guerrero Alvarez said. “But that just makes us excited to play against them.We are really looking forward to this opportunity, not only does it help us grow, but if we execute well and get a little bit lucky, maybe we’ll get a really important win.
The team is hoping to uphold its spot in the top 75, and DeSantos predicts that the Big Green will have to take down at least one of their opponents to remain ranked through the season’s end.
“The goal going into this weekend with a lot of confidence from the way we’ve been playing,” DeSantos said. “Just trying to beat one of these teams and stay in the rankings.”
