Schwartzman lifted from Rutgers curse

The curse is over and the streak continues. The Quakers (6-7) defeated Rutgers in regional play Tuesday by a dominating 7-0 score. This win extends Penn men's tennis' win streak to three with previous wins over Temple and St. Joseph's. It also becomes a personal triumph for junior David Schwartzman. Schwartzman prevailed over Scarlet Knight Jarred Morris in three sets, 6-4, 6-1 and 6-3. His victory signalled the lifting of his Rutgers curse. While the team has always beaten Rutgers with Schwartzman as a member, the junior has always dropped his singles matches versus Scarlet Knight opponents. That is, until yesterday. "I've lost the last two times against players I should have beaten," Schwartzman said. "[Tuesday] I managed to actually do it. Now the curse has lifted." Schwartzman added to a team effort that all but completely blanked the Scarlet Knights. The one opponent win came in doubles with junior Urs Baertschi and senior partner Marc Fisicaro losing 8-5. The loss meant nothing, however, as the second two pairs took their matches for the doubles point. Junior Jordan Szekely and freshman sidekick Eric Sobotka had a convincing 8-3 win, and sophomore Dominic Rioux alongside Schwartzman embarrassed their opponents 8-2. Then came the singles, where the Quakers came out with style, taking every match, including the two exhibitions. Only two matches went into tiebreaker sets. Fisicaro took out fellow New Jerseyan Scott McGrath, 6-4, 6-4, at first singles. Second and third singles were won back-to-back with Baertschi and Szekely overwhelming their opposition 6-3, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-3 respectively. Szekely currently has the most singles wins for the season and cites a more "relaxed and fun atmosphere with better practices" as the reason for his newfound success. The underclassmen showed poise as well, with Sobotka taking fourth singles with a score of 7-6, 6-2 and Rioux at sixth singles with the score 3-6, 6-2, 7-6. Rioux's win at Levy's back courts came after a surprising loss in the first set. With the score tied at 4-4 in the third set, the sophomore pulled ahead against Devarshi Mitra just in time to contribute to his team's victory. Teammate Sobotka beat his opponent but admits to being "surprised" at the opposition's playing style. "His strokes were really awkward, but the end results were really good shots and I didn't know how to react," Sobotka said. "So I became much more aggressive and rushed him." The freshman took advantage of his opponent's weak backhand by going to it frequently in the first set and moving him corner-to-corner in the second, leaving Scarlet Knight Amand Rao no time to set up on his weaker side. Sobotka's strategy worked, as Rao was pressured into giving up the match, allowing yet another Quaker to emerge victorious. The Quakers' Jamee Wong and Brian Konigsberg won their exhibition matches with respective 6-3 and 6-1 scores, providing more evidence that the Red and Blue were the superior team this round. Once upon a time the Quakers were 3-7, but that was a week ago, and now they are one game away from the holy .500 mark. The less-than-peaceful Quakers have slain Knights, Owls and Hawks to take them to a 6-7 record, and now take their quest into battle this weekend against the Quakers' most hated rivals, the Princeton Tigers.