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Cornell University Athletics

Cornell men's tennis freshman Cezar Papoe goes to hit a return during match action at the ITA New England Regionals, hosted by Harvard at Cambridge, Mass., on Oct. 9, 2026.
Eddie Monigan/Harvard Athletics

Men’s Tennis Sends Three to Semifinals, Guarantees NCAA Singles Berth at ITA New England Regional

| By: Marshall Haim, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Junior Rodrigo Fernandes, senior Eric Verdes and freshman Cezar Papoe each won their singles quarterfinals Sunday at the 2026 ITA Division I Men's New England Regional Championship at Harvard, giving Cornell three of the four semifinalists and guaranteeing the Big Red a spot in next month's NCAA singles championship.

Fernandes and Verdes will meet in an all-Cornell semifinal Monday, with the winner claiming one of the New England Regional's automatic bids. The singles finalists and doubles champions from all 13 regional championships advance to the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships, hosted by the University of Georgia Nov. 17-22 in Athens, Ga.

Fernandes, the top seed and No. 16 in the preseason ITA rankings, beat Harvard's sixth-seeded Bill Chan, 6-3, 7-5, and Verdes, the ninth seed, dropped three games in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Harvard's 10th-seeded Mitchell Lee. Papoe, the fourth seed and 100th-ranked player, beat Yale's seventh-seeded Edward Liao, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2.

In doubles, junior Rushil Khosla and sophomore Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar moved within two wins of an NCAA berth. The second seed and 67th-ranked tandem beat Buffalo's Connor Doig and Minjae Kim, 8-4, in the round of 16, then topped Harvard's eighth-seeded pair of Lee and James MacDonald, 8-4, in the quarterfinals.

Two Cornell doubles pairs lost in the round of 16. Verdes and Fernandes, the top seed and 57th-ranked pair, fell 8-7 (6) to Brown's 13th-seeded Cole Oberg and Elliot Wasserman, while senior Felipe Pinzon and Papoe, the seventh seed, lost 8-4 to Brown's 15th-seeded Ivan Sodan and Robert Yang.

The five-day regional concludes Monday. In the other singles semifinal, Papoe faces Harvard's second-seeded and 25th-ranked Rohan Murali. A Papoe win would give the Big Red both of the regional's NCAA singles bids.

In the doubles semifinals, Khosla and Senthil Kumar take on Sodan and Yang, who eliminated Pinzon and Papoe on Sunday. The winner advances to the final against either Brown's Lucas Kimelman and Tej Bhagra or Harvard's third-seeded and 74th-ranked pair of Murali and Kolos Kincses.

ITA Division I Men's New England Regional Championship

Sunday, Oct. 11 – Results
Doubles – Round of 16
[13] Cole Oberg/Elliot Wasserman (Brown) def. [1] #57 Eric Verdes/Rodrigo Fernandes (Cornell), 8-7 (6)
[15] Ivan Sodan/Robert Yang (Brown) def. [7] Felipe Pinzon/Cezar Papoe (Cornell), 8-4
[2] #67 Rushil Khosla/Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (Cornell) def. Connor Doig/Minjae Kim (Buffalo), 8-4

Doubles – Quarterfinals
[2] #67 Rushil Khosla/Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (Cornell) def. [8] Mitchell Lee/James MacDonald (Harvard), 8-4

Singles – Quarterfinals
[1] #16 Rodrigo Fernandes (Cornell) def. [6] Bill Chan (Harvard), 6-3, 7-5
[9] Eric Verdes (Cornell) def. [10] Mitchell Lee (Harvard), 6-1, 6-2
[4] #100 Cezar Papoe (Cornell) def. [7] Edward Liao (Yale), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2

Monday, Oct. 12 – Schedule
All times are tentative and subject to change.
Singles – Semifinals
10 a.m. – [1] #16 Rodrigo Fernandes (Cornell) vs. [9] Eric Verdes (Cornell)
10 a.m. – [4] #100 Cezar Papoe (Cornell) vs. [2] #25 Rohan Murali (Harvard)

Doubles – Semifinals
Noon – [2] #67 Rushil Khosla/Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (Cornell) vs. [15] Ivan Sodan/Robert Yang (Brown)

Doubles – Final
2:30 p.m. – [2] #67 Khosla/Senthil Kumar (Cornell) or [15] Sodan/Yang (Brown) vs. [3] #74 Rohan Murali/Kolos Kincses (Harvard) or Lucas Kimelman/Tej Bhagra (Brown)
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