Sophomore Manfredi Graziani prepares to defend against Columbia on April 7, 2024.
Credit: Carly ZhaoThe team hopes to serve up some wins this weekend.
Penn men’s tennis is set to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships with the Quakers enjoying home-court advantage. The tournament will be held at the Hecht Tennis Center at Penn and will be a three-day long event starting Friday.
In last year’s tournament, Penn fared well at the championships — finishing second with big wins against Dartmouth and Cornell before losing in a challenging final match against Princeton, 4-1.
Penn men’s team has led a promising season so far — serving up a 7-1 overall record. Coming off two wins over Elon and Tennessee Tech on their road trip, the Quakers can continue their winning streak against some of the top teams in the Northeast this upcoming weekend.
“We are ready for this weekend, we feel good and have had a good amount of games already. We will refine a few things this week during practice and we will be ready to win,” junior Manfredi Graziani wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The Quakers have had reliable performances so far in the spring. The doubles pair of Graziani and freshman Shaurya Bharadwaj enter this weekend with a 7-1 record. In singles, Graziani has five wins, including two against Navy, and one each against Yale, Saint Joseph’s, and Elon. His only loss was against Virginia Tech and Tennessee. Bharadwaj enters the tournament with an overall singles record of 7-1.
The Quakers are seeded fourth and will take on No. 5 Yale in the first round of play on Friday. The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a 3-2 record with wins over Penn State, Buffalo, and Virginia Tech.
A win would send the Quakers to the winner’s side of the bracket where they would have to face the winner between Princeton and Dartmouth. They would have to look out for contenders like Princeton who are looking to defend its 2024 ECAC title.
“Honestly we are looking forward to competing at home with our home fans and playing against good teams. we practiced all summer, fall and winter break for weekends like these so we are excited,” Graziani wrote.
With intense practices and offseason preparation, the Quakers are entering this tournament with the intention to avenge last year’s loss and claim the title.
“Obviously our goal is to win it. That’s our only focus this weekend. We will leave it all out there,” Graziani wrote.
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