ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Carleton College men's tennis team improved to 3-0 on the season after registering a 7-2 victory over UW-Eau Claire on Saturday.
 
The Knights managed to take a 2-1 lead after doubles, but it was not easy.
 
Aswath Viswanathan (Jr./Lincolnshire, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) and Tarm Rojanasoonthon (Fy./Bangkok, Thailand/Chulalongkorn) eventually held off their opponents at No. 1 doubles by an 8-7 (7-3) margin. Meanwhile, Yuv Kataria (So./Kolkata, India/Weil Academy & College Prep) and Aniketh Vipparla (So./Cary, N.C./Green Hope) walked the tightrope during their No. 2 doubles match even longer before securing an 8-7 (9-7) triumph.
 
"We could have unfolded at No. 1 and No. 2 2 doubles after being down a break late in the match, but our teams stuck together like the complementary strands of the DNA double helix," explained Carleton head coach Stephan Zweifel.
 
Those rallies set the tone for the rest of the match as three of the singles contests required either a tiebreaker or super tiebreaker.
 
Rojanasoonthon did not look like a rookie in notching a convincing 6-3, 6-1 triumph at No. 1 singles.
 
"Let me borrow a quote from a tennis broadcaster to describe Tarm's effortless movement," Zweifel said. "'Seventy percent of the earth is covered by water, Tarm covers the rest'."
 
Kataria and Vipparla also secured straight-set triumphs at No. 2 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
 
Xander Roti (Sr./Locust Valley, N.Y./Friends Academy) picked up a 6-2, 7-6 win at the third slot, while Viswanathan bounced back after dropping the first set to nail down Carleton's final team point with a 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 at No. 5 singles.
 
UWEC's other point came at No. 4 singles, where John Foley won in a super tiebreaker def 5-7, 6-2, 10-6.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will square off against two more regional opponents in neutral site matches next weekend. The Knights play Grinnell College on Saturday, Feb. 19 and Carthage College on Sunday, Feb. 20. Both of those contests will also be played at the Rochester (Minn.) Athletic Club.
 
Carleton College 7, UW-Eau Claire 2
Singles competition
1. Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CAR) def. Hunter Roseth (UWECM) 6-3, 6-1
2. Yuv Kataria (CAR) def. Demetri Bush (UWECM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Xander Roti (CAR) def. RJ Griffiths (UWECM) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
4. John Foley (UWECM) def. Tate Fuller (CAR) 5-7, 6-2, 10-6
5. Aswath Viswanathan (CAR) def. Kole Kolinski (UWECM) 4-6, 6-1, 10-8
6. Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) def. Victor Simoes (UWECM) 6-4, 6-3
 
Doubles competition
1. Aswath Viswanathan/Tarm Rojanasoonthon (CAR) def. Demetri Bush/Kole Kolinski (UWECM) 8-7 (7-3)
2. Yuv Kataria/Aniketh Vipparla (CAR) def. John Foley/Matt Gilbert (UWECM) 8-7 (9-7)
3. Hunter Roseth/Tyler Grosz (UWECM) def. Noah Mueller/Tate Fuller (CAR) 8-2