Deepak Pathapati and Adrian Yao remained undefeated at third doubles, but Deerfield lost five three-setters in singles on the way to a 6-1 defeat at the hands of defending New England champion Taft on a frigid Saturday evening. Deerfield is now 1-2 on the season.
Pathapati and Yao claimed the doubles point for Deerfield after the first two doubles lines split 8-5 results. However, every singles match eventually went to Taft in a three-and-a-half hour battle which ended just after 7 PM.
Gideon Yektai, Pathapati, and Arthur Yao all claimed first sets, while Matthew Wuyan and Cosmo Hunt battled back from first-set deficits. Pathapati, Hunt, and Arthur Yao all fell by the thinnest of margins: 7-5, 7-6, and 11-9.
At first singles, Alfi Auersperg again rose to the occasion, but fell 7-6, 6-3 to Taft’s talented #1.
Congrats to a tough and well-coached Taft team for rising to the occasion time and time again; despite the final score we were only a few points/games away from a victory. Many thanks to those who supported us through the 40-degree day: Mr. and Mrs. Auersperg, Dr. and Dr. Curtis, Mr. and Mrs. Grant (parents of Carl ’17), our manager Mason Horton, and the variety of students who stopped by (particularly Emma and Julia, who stayed for the entire match).
Deerfield travels to Loomis on Wednesday and welcomes Andover to town on Saturday. As always, updates can be found on Twitter @deerfieldtennis.
Taft 6, Deerfield 1
Gabe Rissman/Peter Horne (T) d. Alfi Auersperg/Matthew Wuyan 8-5
Gideon Yektai/Cosmo Hunt (D) d. Dylan Powell/Isaac Lennon 8-5
Deepak Pathapati/Adrian Yao (D) d. Chris McDermott/Peter Denious 8-6
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Powell (T) d. Auersperg 7-6 (5), 6-3
Rissman (T) d. Wuyan 6-0, 4-6, 6-3
Horne (T) d. Yektai 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
McDermott (T) d. Pathapati 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
Will Wang (T) d. Hunt 6-2, 1-6, 7-5
Denious (T) d. Arthur Yao 6-7 (0), 7-5, 11-9
Order of finish: Doubles 1,2,3; Singles 3,1,2,5,4,6