A sweep, a stumble, and a statement made: WashU Men’s Tennis is a team built to compete. 

The Bears opened their spring season with two strong matches against the No. 35 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 1 Denison University. With a dominant win over Whitewater and a narrow loss to 2025 NCAA champions Denison University, WashU is ready to make a comeback this spring. 

WashU v. Wisconsin-Whitewater

The men’s tennis team kicked off their season with a blowout, sweeping No. 35 Wisconsin-Whitewater 7-0 at the Vetta Sunset Tennis Center to open the spring dual-match slate on Jan. 31.

After a shaky finish to last spring’s season, the Bears were looking to secure an early win. 

“We really didn’t quite have the results we wanted last year,” senior Case Fagan said. “So to start the spring season on such a strong note was definitely a big positive for us.”

The match started off securing the doubles points. Seniors Eric Kuo and Colin Scruggs set the tone with a 6-2 victory, followed up by Fagan and Colin Fox’s 6-3 win. First-years Hans Deng and Ethan Wu closed out the doubles matches with a 7-5 win. 

The Bears’ mental and physical preparation was a large part of their strong start. 

“You’re out there in the court pretty much all on your own if you’re playing singles, so the clarity and the confidence that [the team’s sports psychologist] adds is essential,” Fagan said, “We’ve been practicing with him along with our coach, [and they] have been really key to our success in the fall, and will be as well this spring.” 

The Bears’ preparation shone in the singles play where Fagan cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 3 singles. Junior Nathan Tam followed with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5. 

“It was really important to just go out there and make the serve and return, which is one of the main things our coaches have really been focusing on,” Fagan said. 

The match-clinching point came from sophomore Coleman Merce at No. 4 singles. 

The team’s culture will remain a central focus as they take on last year’s NCAA champions, Denison University. 

“Having the right mindset with every practice and match [is important] … since tennis really is an individual sport,” Fagan said, “You really need to focus on the team aspects of it. You win as a team and lose as a team.” 

WashU v. Denison

WashU went on to face No. 1 and defending Division III national champion, Denison University, on Feb. 7. The Bears last beat the Big Reds in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, but since then, Denison has dominated the Bears in their last two match-ups. Coming off a sweep against UW-Whitewater the previous weekend, the Bears went into their contest against Denison hoping to bring the same energy and momentum.

“We knew that we were playing pretty good, but obviously Denison is the number one team in the country,” sophomore Avi Mahajan said. “We were definitely a bit nervous since we didn’t really know if we had that level to compete with them … but we knew that our team was really good this year, and we thought we should just go out and try to show [Denison] what we can really do.”

Initial concerns for the Bears were quickly erased as WashU’s three doubles teams went 2-1, setting a commanding tone early on. At No. 1 doubles, Fox and first-year Jeremy Sieben beat a pair 7-5 who had reached the NCAA quarter and semifinals. Denison evened the score after clinching a victory at No. 2 doubles. Despite this, the Bears continued fighting with Kuo and Scruggs, No. 3 doubles, winning by a nail-biting two points 7-6 (8-6). 

“It was super hype watching [Kuo and Scruggs],” Mahajan said. “It went to a tiebreak, and everyone was getting really hype and cheering them on. We were showing the energy, and it actually turned out that we got the doubles point, which was great for confidence going into the singles.” 

By winning the majority of the doubles match-ups 2-1, the WashU went into the singles play leading 1-0. 

Denison bounced back quickly once singles play got underway, beating the Bears decisively in the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 positions to take the lead 3-1. WashU continued to battle, though, as Scruggs put another point on the board for the Bears, 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2 singles. Nearing the end of the showdown, Fagan lost an incredibly tight match at No. 4 singles, fighting to win the second set 6-0 and then ultimately losing 4-6 in the third. Sophomore Mahajan was the last Bear battling out on court and came out with a huge win at No. 6 singles, winning 6-3, 5-7, and 10-4 in the super tie-breaker to seal the match. 

“This was one of my first big matches of the season,” Mahajan said. “I went into it with not much pressure since I just wanted to play my best tennis and try to win for the team. I felt a lot of energy coming from the teammates and the spectators, and I used that to drive me towards a win.” 

Denison went 4-2 in singles play, ultimately beating WashU 4-3. 

Although the Bears lost the match-up, they showed their strong fight against a formidable opponent and also their potential for the coming spring season.

“I felt like we competed really well, and it was really close,” Mahajan said. It was just like a couple of points that could’ve changed the match, so I was happy with the performance.” 

The Bears will face out-of-conference Division I opponent Saint Louis University next on Feb. 14 at 4:00 p.m.