The Cornell men’s tennis team is set to play No. 37 Princeton on April 10 and host No. 39 Penn on April 12, with head coach Silviu Tanasiou nearing his 200th career victory, according to an announcement on April 8.
This weekend holds significance for the program as Tanasiou could become only the 16th coach across all Cornell sports to reach this milestone. The Big Red currently stands at a season record of 13-3 and is ranked No. 33 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Cornell’s recent performance includes a close loss to Yale followed by a win against Brown. The team features sophomore Rodrigo Fernandes, ranked No. 95 nationally with a record of 20-8 in singles play from the top spot, alongside steady contributions from Eric Verdes, Petar Teodorovic, Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar, Felipe Pinzon, and Aman Sharma throughout the lineup. In doubles competition, Senthil Kumar and Rushil Khosla have achieved a record of 14-5 while Pinzon and Teodorovic have started their season at 15-3; Fernandes and Verdes hold a mark of 10-4.
Tanasiou enters the weekend with an overall coaching record of 199-109 (.646), making him Cornell’s all-time winningest tennis coach with four NCAA tournament appearances that each included first-round victories.
Princeton comes into Friday’s match holding a season record of 14-8 but is still seeking its first Ivy League win after three consecutive narrow losses within conference play. The Tigers are led by Paul Inchauspe—ranked No.13 nationally—who has compiled a singles record of 29-4 this year.
Penn will arrive in Ithaca after defeating Harvard and holding an overall mark of 16-7 (2-1 Ivy). Manfredi Graziani leads their lineup with a singles tally of 19-8 this season and is ranked No.71 nationally; his doubles pairing with Aaron Sandler is also among the top-ranked teams.
