The Notre Dame men’s tennis program emulated their individual season success and earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory against Yale in their first dual of the season. The Irish went 3-3 in singles matches, but secured the doubles team point going 2-1 on the weekend. After a rough 2025 spring season, the away dual triumph is exactly what the Irish needed to set themselves up for a successful 2026.
Notre Dame senior Sebastian Dominko continued his dominant fall form with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Yale senior Vignesh Gogineni, avenging a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Gogineni in last year’s opener. The big serving lefty enters the season ranked No. 24 in the nation, and after a fourth straight qualification for the individual NCAA Division I singles championships in the fall, will try to lead the Irish men’s team through a tricky Atlantic Coast Conference schedule that includes four top-ten opponents in March.
Notre Dame junior Kyran Magimay defeated Yale sophomore Krish Gupta in an enthralling 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 comeback, keeping the good vibes going after his successful fall season, in which he finished 10-4. Notre Dame sophomore Peter Nad’s birthday came a day early after a gutsy 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over junior Jim Ji. Yale freshman Ethan Chung delivered a crushing 6-1, 6-1 performance against sophomore Luis Llorens Saracho and later, sophomores Jason Shuler and Edward Liao tied the singles scoreboard for the Bulldogs. Shuler defeated Notre Dame sophomore Giuseppe Cerasuolo in a nail-biter (4-6, 7-5, 6-3) while Liao fended off Notre Dame grad student Perry Gregg and took a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3 victory.
On the doubles side, freshman Nicholas Patrick and Gregg defeated junior Dylan Tsoi and his partner Shuler 6-3. Liao and Gogineni managed to tie the doubles team score for the Bulldogs with a 6-3 victory over Nad and Llorens Saracho, before Notre Dame seniors Noah Becker and Dominko clinched the win for the Irish, defeating senior duo Eric Li and Ethan Chung 6-2.
The 4-3 away win in New Haven is a fantastic start to the season for the Irish. With Dominko cleaning up at one singles, the rest of the lineup will be crucial to team success. The multiple clutch wins this past Friday, as well as solid individual fall seasons, all bode well for the Notre Dame men’s tennis team. Positive results on the doubles side will be another key to team success, as the point earned from the best-of-three wins format could be the difference maker in some of the tough ACC duals in March and April. While there is much work to be done, things are looking up for a hungry Notre Dame team.
Having now kicked off the season strong, the Irish return to South Bend on Jan. 19 for a Monday morning dual against Duquesne, at 10 a.m. After that, Notre Dame will round out the day in an evening cap match against Western Michigan at 6 p.m.
