ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell men's tennis is coming off one of the most decorated season in program history, but Silviu Tanasoiu, the Director of Intercollegiate Tennis and the Savitt-Weiss Head Coach of Cornell Men's Tennis, isn't interested in dwelling on it.

Last spring, the Big Red went 19-4 overall and 6-1 in Ivy League play, capturing their first conference title since 2017 — Tanasoiu's second as Cornell's head coach — with a 4-3 win over Columbia in the regular-season finale at Reis Tennis Center. Cornell also reached the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive year, and enters this year as one of 14 Division I programs to appear and win at least one NCAA Tournament match in each of the last four years. Capping the accolades from last season, Tanasoiu and his coaching staff were named the Ivy League's Coaching Staff of the Year.

Tanasoiu singled Rodrigo Fernandes' clinching win over Michael Zheng — a three-time Ivy League Player of the Year and two-time NCAA individual champion — as a confidence boost heading into the season.

"That particular match solidified all the work that we've done as a group throughout the year," Tanasoiu said.

But with three new freshmen and a shift in team leadership, Tanasoiu said last year isn't the starting point for the season.

"I don't know if it helps us in any way, what happened last year, "Tanasoiu said. "I just feel like we have a new group, a new dynamic, and it's incumbent upon us to help these guys develop and improve as much as possible in the fall."

Cornell's sustained run — four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and five of the program's six all-time tournament appearances coming under Tanasoiu — is one he's quick to share credit for, pointing to assistant coach Marco Martizi and former assistant coach and current Cornell women's tennis head coach Spencer Furman for their roles in developing the roster over the year.

"We've had a fortune to work with some really good kids, just as human beings more so than anything else," Tanasoiu said.

At the top of the lineup is Fernandes, who enters the season ranked No. 16 nationally after a 24-10 record and a 14-7 dual mark as a sophomore, capped by four straight wins to close the year. He was a unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection and finished ranked No. 2 in the ITA's New England Region rankings.

"He's has the ability to play tennis at the highest level, in college and way beyond that," Tanasoiu said of Fernandes' continued growth.

Behind him, seniors Eric Verdes and sophomore Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar both earned Second Team All-Ivy honors in singles and finished the year ranked 13th and 14th in the region, respectively. Kumar's freshman season stood out — 24 wins overall, a team-leading 15 in dual matches, and a perfect 10-0 mark at No. 5 singles. He also won his first professional event this summer.

"He's been very stable throughout the matches... he never gets too high, he never gets too low," Tanasoiu noted of Kumar's composure.

In doubles, Cornell has two pairings nationally ranked heading into the season as Fernandes and Verdes are ranked No. 57, while Khosla and Kumar — a Second Team All-Ivy tandem last year — checked in at No. 67. The Big Red will need to rebuild elsewhere after graduating Petar Teodorovic, who received Honorable Mention All-Ivy honors alongside Felipe Pinzon.

"We need to figure out the dynamic for our third and fourth doubles teams, and we're constantly working on that," Tanasoiu said.

Freshman Cezar Papoe headlines Cornell's incoming class, arriving as the ITA's 13th-ranked newcomer and No. 100 in singles nationally. Papoe follows his older brother, former Big Red standout and 2024 Ivy League Player of the Year Radu Papoe, into the program.

"He's one of the best, if not the best recruit we have ever had at Cornell," Tanasoiu said of Papoe.

Tanasoiu also pointed to freshmen Greg Bernadsky and David Carteputreda as newcomers with tremendous upside heading into the fall, adding that both are willing to put in the work and buy into the program's standards.

Cornell is also breaking in new leadership after graduating Aman Sharma, one of last year's captains.

"Aman was our leader," Tanasoiu said. "We cannot underestimate the impact that he's had."

Verdes and Fernandes will serve as this year's captains and Tanasoiu believes they're up for the challenge. With the Ivy League as competitive as ever, he's looking past simply repeating as champions.

"I'm super keen on growth," Tanasoiu added. "I want the guys to improve — I think the byproduct of that is going to be good results. I'm very confident. As long as we're focusing and we're very keen on developing and improving ourselves, I think that's the number one goal for us."