The Penn men’s tennis team is off to a great start, living up to high expectations after completing a 21-9 overall season last year.
The Red and Blue (2-1) opened their season with a home doubleheader against Navy (4-2) on Jan. 18. At the event, the Quakers dominated the Navy, winning all three doubles matches to start the season. The duo of senior and team captain Manfredi Graziani and junior Aaron Sandler, swept their opponents 6-0, as did freshman Vojtech Vales and sophomore Shaurya Bharadwaj.
This is not where it ended for Penn. The team also went on to win its other matches, which gave three freshmen their first singles wins of the 2026 season. It was the perfect way for the Quakers to start their season, in which they hope to capture their first Ivy League championship since 2007.
The opening weekend was only the start of a series of other competitions as they enter one of the busiest periods of the season.
The following matchup against Arkansas on Jan. 24 did not go as hoped, as the Quakers fell 4-2 to the Razorbacks. Freshman Vojtech Vales was the sole Penn victor in the singles column, continuing his winning streak to start a strong 2026 season.
Although the Red and Blue lost, this competitive matchup offers a hopeful outlook on the rest of the season. The game took place at a neutral site on Yale’s campus, as Penn was gearing up to play the Bulldogs the following day.
However, due to inclement weather that brought multiple inches of snow to the Northeast Corridor, the game was postponed to Feb. 25.
The matchup between Penn and Yale is not foreign. Last season, the Quakers went undefeated against Yale with comfortable margins, winning all three meetings. It would not be shocking if Penn continued that streak this season.
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Penn will end its January schedule against Liberty on Jan. 30. Liberty finished last season with an 11-13 record, including two losses to nationally ranked teams. The game against Liberty will be the first of Penn’s two tests before the Quakers head to Princeton to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Indoor Championship from Feb. 13-15. This will prove to be an early-season measure of where Penn stands on a broader scale.
Even with the new freshman talent, the Red and Blue still have room to grow as the season continues. Defending Ivy League champion Columbia and 2024 Ivy League champion Harvard, both teams Penn lost to last season, will pose a challenge.
This season is looking incredibly hopeful for the Quakers. It would be a miss not to pay attention to this stellar team, as it’s brewing up to become national champions in the not-so-distant future.
