Oxford Emory Captures Sixth Straight National Title

Oxford, GA - The Emory Oxford men's tennis team secured their sixth straight national title in dominating fashion. This year's tournament was hosted on Emory Oxford's campus for the first time and featured five teams competing for the trophy. The Eagles finished with 33 points, 13.5 points better than the runner-up team.   

On the first day of action, the Eagles accumulated 9 points, going undefeated in their six matches. Sophomore Frank Lu won 6-1, 6-1 in the Flight 3 singles semi-finals, while Freshman Jahaan Sachdeva also went 6-1, 6-1 in the Flight 4 singles semis. Freshmen Alexander Szymanski and Ryan Talano each picked up a 6-0, 6-0 victory in Flights 5 and 6 singles. 

During doubles play, Freshman Zach Ravel and Sachdeva won 6-0, 6-0 in the semis of Flight 2. Freshmen teammates Stephen Orr and Mark Li claimed a 6-2, 6-0 victory in Flight 3. 

Emory Oxford continued to dominate the following day, again going undefeated. In singles play, Ravel earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Flight 1 semi-finals, while fellow freshman Tyler Yamato-Chang won 6-1, 6-1 in the semis for Flight 2. Both advanced to the championship match the following day. Lu claimed the Flight 3 championship with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win. Meanwhile, Sachdeva won the Flight 4 championship with a 6-0, 6-1 score. 

The Eagles won all three of their doubles matches on the second day of action. In Flight 1, Lu and Yamato-Chang won 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the championship game on Sunday. Ravel and Sachdeva claimed the Flight 2 championship with a 6-3, 7-5 victory on the ensuing court. Lastly, Orr and Li won their second match of the tournament 6-0, 6-1 to claim the Flight 3 championship. The Eagles added 16 more points to their total (25) to lead by 14.5 points after day two. 

On Sunday, the final day of competition, Szymanski and Talano picked up two key wins to claim the Flight 5 and 6 championships. Szymanski won 6-4, 6-3 and Talano won 6-0, 6-0. These were the only two wins for Emory Oxford on the final day. 

Coach Pernilla Hardin, the Max Grubs Coach of the Tournament, earned her 12th National Championship, including six straight with the women's team. 

The Eagles finished the tournament winning six out of nine championship flights. They end the year with a 7-3 record and their ninth national championship.

 Article Courtesy Jose Cueva, Oxford Emory SID