Senior Matt Kandel traveled to Shanghai last week to represent Williams College in an international cultural exchange tennis tournament between American and Chinese collegiate players. Day one of the tournament was a warmup, where the players toured the stadium court of the Shanghai Rolex Masters ATP 1000 tournament, and competed in a single set to get their bearings on Chinese soil. Kandel defeated his opponent 6-3 on stadium court with a solid performance.
Day two began early and at an outdoor venue and with temperatures climbing above 100 degrees, all the players knew it would be a battle with their opponents as well as the heat. In the quarterfinals, Kandel faced Li, a Chinese player from Shanghai University. Kandel came out hot, and with some solid return games backed by precise serving and volleying, found himself up 4-0 in only 10 minutes.
Not looking back, Kandel went on to win the set 6-2. The second set started out much tighter as the first three games all went to deuce, but Kandel got a crucial break in the third game after a beautiful backhand lob found the baseline. Up a set and a break, he continued his fine form and finished the match 6-2, 6-2.
In the semifinals, he played the winner of an American from Division I program Long Island University and a Chinese player from Guangdong University. After a tough battle, the Chinese player prevailed, and the semis were set. Two Americans remained, and two Chinese remained.
On day three, Kandel and Wu battled early on and both players struggled to find a rhythm on their serve. Kandel found himself down 3-2 on serve, but four of those first five games were breaks. However, Kandel found his serve form, and held quickly with two aces and two volley winners.
The next game Kandel broke and his confidence soared, leaving his opponent in the dust for a 6-3 first set. The heat then got to Kandel’s opponent in the second set and Kandel simply broke away with his fitness. The second set flew by quickly, and was sealed with a backhand volley drop shot winner.
Kandel advanced to the finals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Kandel’s opponent in the championship match was Liu, a player from Zhejiang University, and ranked number one among college tennis players in Shanghai. The match began with both players trading holds until 3-2, when Kandel capitalized on a deuce point and got to the net before his opponent missed a forehand long, putting Kandel up 4-2.
The next two service games saw four aces combined, including one on set point, and Kandel was now one set away from the title after a 6-3 first set. The second set got to 2-2 with the tennis level still quite high, before Kandel’s opponent faltered and sent a forehand sailing long on another crucial deuce point. Up 3-2, Kandel breezed through his next service game, and then broke his opponent once more on yet another deuce point.
Up 5-2, Kandel hit four serves that were not returned to take the title. “It is such a great opportunity to be here in China competing against some of the best college players around,” Kandel said. “For me personally, as a Chinese major, this is an experience that I won’t forget, and I am so thankful for all the organizations that helped get me to this point.
” “Although I wasn’t there with Matt in Shanghai, I am thrilled he got to make that trip and that he represented Williams well, taking home the title,” Eph head coach Dan Greenberg said. The Eph men’s tennis team will return to action this fall at the Dartmouth Invitational Tournament with four new rookies in the mix..
