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| Rohan Gupte won the clinching match at No. 2 singles for the Jumbos. |
MEDFORD – The No. 13 Tufts men's tennis team finished their regular season schedule on a high note, upsetting No. 4 Bowdoin on their home courts on Sunday afternoon. The Jumbos got a huge match-clinching come from behind win at No. 2 singles from sophomore Rohan Gupte to earn the 5-4 win over the Polar Bears.
The match was played indoors because of inclement weather in Medford. With the win the Jumbos move to 13-6 on the season and 6-3 in NESCAC matches this season. The Polar Bears fall to 14-2 overall and 7-2 in conference play. Their other loss this season came earlier in April to Middlebury.
The Jumbos found themselves down early, as Bowdoin grabbed a 2-1 lead in doubles play. At No. 1 doubles senior Nick Cary and Gupte were edged by the Bowdoin pair of Luke Trinka and Luke Tercek, 8-6. The Jumbos picked up a win at No. 2 doubles, as seniors Jay Glickman and Rob Jacobson were able to top Kyle Wolfe and Yangeng Jiang, 8-6. At No. 3 doubles, sophomores Zain Ali and Dan Coran fell to Chase Savage and Gil Roddy, 8-4, to give the visitors the 2-1 advantage going into singles play.
The Jumbos picked up a win immediately in singles play to tie the match at two as Glickman made easy work of Tercek, who was ranked No. 10 in the country, at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-3. Bowdoin would then take the lead again as Trinka topped Ali at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-4. But, the Jumbos evened it up again at three when Cary earned a 7-6, 6-4 win over Jiang at No. 4 singles.
Jacobson was then able to turn in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Roddy at No. 5 singles to give the Jumbos the 4-3 advantage. Gupte clinched the win for the Jumbos with a come from behind win at No. 2 singles that saw two of three three sets go to tie breakers. Gupte was able to earn the 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Wolfe at No. 2 singles to secure the 5-4 win for the Jumbos. The Polar Bears picked up their last win at No. 6 singles as Coran was bested by Bowdoin's Grant Urken, 6-3, 7-6.
The match with the Polar Bears was the final regular season match for the Jumbos, who will now wait for seeding for the NESCAC Tournament to be announced this week. The conference tournament will be held Friday, May 6 through Sunday, May 8 at Bates.
