Friday, January 16
New York, N.Y.
5:30 p.m.
Bucknell University
0
at
7
Columbia
Men’s Tennis Drops Spring Opener at No. 10 Columbia
1/16/2026 9:24:00 PM | Men's Tennis
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The 10th-ranked Columbia Lions downed Bucknell 7-0 in a battle of defending conference champions on Friday night at the Milstein Family Tennis Center. In the first 2026 dual match for both sides, host Columbia – an NCAA quarterfinalist in each of the last two seasons -- swept the doubles and then won all but one singles set.
Adam Stavrakas and Will Robinson played the closest doubles match, extending Thanaphat Boosarawongse and Abhishek Thorat to a tiebreaker before the Columbia pair prevailed 7-4. Boosararwongse is ranked No. 37 nationally in doubles when paired with Aditya Govila.
Columbia had two ranked players at the top of its singles lineup: No. 52 Nicolas Kotzen and No. 65 Sachin Palta. Bucknell's Amar Tahirovic, who was ranked in the top-50 himself in the fall, gave Kotzen a good battle at No. 1 singles. After dropping the first set 6-2, Tahirovic played brilliantly in the second and cruised 6-1. They were on serve at 2-3 in the third, but Kotzen won a couple of key deuce points and went on to take the deciding set 6-3.
Palta defeated Stavrakas 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2. Robinson played a tight second set against Jun Hee You at No. 5 but fell 6-1, 7-5.
Columbia played without the nation's No. 1 collegiate player in four-time All-American and two-time NCAA singles champion Michael Zheng, who qualified for the main draw at this week's Australian Open.
Bucknell opens up the home portion of its schedule next weekend with matches against Mount St. Mary's on Saturday and Saint Francis on Sunday. First serve for both contests will be at 1 p.m. at the Central PA Tennis Center in South Williamsport.
Doubles
1. Nicolas Kotzen/Andrew Ena (COL) def. Amar Tahirovic/Brendan McDonald (BUCK) 6-3
2. Sachin Palta/JordanChang (COL) def. Liam Kilmer/Nelson Alapi (BUCK) 6-2
3. Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Adam Stavrakas/Will Robinson 7-6 (7-4)
Singles
1. Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Amir Tahirovic (BUCK) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
2. Sachin Palta (COL) def. Adam Stavrakas (BUCK) 6-2, 6-2
3. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) def. Liam Kilmer (BUCK) 6-2, 6-0
4. Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Brendan McDonald (BUCK) 6-2, 6-1
5. Jun Hee You (COL) def. Will Robinson (BUCK) 6-1, 7-5
6. Aditya Govila (COL) def. Nelson Alapi (BUCK) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,4,3,2,5,1)
Adam Stavrakas and Will Robinson played the closest doubles match, extending Thanaphat Boosarawongse and Abhishek Thorat to a tiebreaker before the Columbia pair prevailed 7-4. Boosararwongse is ranked No. 37 nationally in doubles when paired with Aditya Govila.
Columbia had two ranked players at the top of its singles lineup: No. 52 Nicolas Kotzen and No. 65 Sachin Palta. Bucknell's Amar Tahirovic, who was ranked in the top-50 himself in the fall, gave Kotzen a good battle at No. 1 singles. After dropping the first set 6-2, Tahirovic played brilliantly in the second and cruised 6-1. They were on serve at 2-3 in the third, but Kotzen won a couple of key deuce points and went on to take the deciding set 6-3.
Palta defeated Stavrakas 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2. Robinson played a tight second set against Jun Hee You at No. 5 but fell 6-1, 7-5.
Columbia played without the nation's No. 1 collegiate player in four-time All-American and two-time NCAA singles champion Michael Zheng, who qualified for the main draw at this week's Australian Open.
Bucknell opens up the home portion of its schedule next weekend with matches against Mount St. Mary's on Saturday and Saint Francis on Sunday. First serve for both contests will be at 1 p.m. at the Central PA Tennis Center in South Williamsport.
Doubles
1. Nicolas Kotzen/Andrew Ena (COL) def. Amar Tahirovic/Brendan McDonald (BUCK) 6-3
2. Sachin Palta/JordanChang (COL) def. Liam Kilmer/Nelson Alapi (BUCK) 6-2
3. Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Adam Stavrakas/Will Robinson 7-6 (7-4)
Singles
1. Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Amir Tahirovic (BUCK) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
2. Sachin Palta (COL) def. Adam Stavrakas (BUCK) 6-2, 6-2
3. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) def. Liam Kilmer (BUCK) 6-2, 6-0
4. Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Brendan McDonald (BUCK) 6-2, 6-1
5. Jun Hee You (COL) def. Will Robinson (BUCK) 6-1, 7-5
6. Aditya Govila (COL) def. Nelson Alapi (BUCK) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,4,3,2,5,1)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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