Princeton Drops NCAA Opener Against SMU 4-2

Friday, May 1

Austin, Texas

11:00 ET/10:00 CT

Princeton University

Southern Methodist University

Photo by: Angela Wang

May 01, 2026 | Men's Tennis

There were highlights for the Princeton men's tennis team in its NCAA tournament opening round match against Southern Methodist Friday afternoon. Big highlights, in fact.

At this time of year, though, the harsh reality is that highlights alone are not enough to keep your season going. It's either a win or not a win. For Princeton, it was the latter.

Princeton fell 4-2 to SMU in the opening round Friday in matches that were moved indoors at the University of Texas. The loss ended the season with a record of 16-11, an ECAC tournament championship, a third-straight NCAA appearance and a fourth NCAA appearance in five years.

As for the big highlights of Friday's match, there were two of them. The first was at No. 1 singles, where Princeton's Paul Inchauspe — ranked sixth in the latest ITA rankings — defeated NCAA runner-up and second-ranked Trevor Svajda in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. The other came at No. 3 singles, where Landon Ardila returned after missing all seven Ivy League matches due to injury to give Princeton a 6-3, 7-5 win over Alex Finklestein.

SMU won the doubles point by claiming the only two matches to finish, leaving the Mustangs three singles wins away from advancing. They would get two of those in straight sets and then the clincher at No. 6, where Noah McDonald defeated Princeton's Milan Markovits 7-6, 7-6. Aleksandar Mitric at No. 5 was down a set and on serve in the second at 4-5 when that match was abandoned.

The 2026 season will be remembered as a bit of a "what if" for Princeton, who was without standout senior Ellis Short due to injury and without Ardila for those seven Ivy matches. Princeton will graduate Short, No. 2 player Top Nidunjianzan and No. 4 player Sebastian Sec.

SMU 4, Princeton 2
Singles
No. 1 Paul Inchauspe (P) def. Trevor Svajda 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 Georgi Georgiev (SMU) def. Top Nidunjianzan 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Landon Ardila (P) def. Alex Finklestein 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 Krish Arora (SMU) vs. Sebastian Sec 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Aleksandar Mitric (P) vs. Jerry Barton (SMU) 6-7, 4-5 (DNF)
No. 6 Noah McDonald (SMU) def. Milan Markovits (P) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2)

Doubles
No. 1 Trevor Svajda/Jerry Barton (SMU) def. Paul Inchauspe/Top Nidunjianzan 6-2
No. 2 Aleksandar Mitric/Landon Ardila (P) vs. Alex Finklestein/Krish Arora (SMU) 5-2 (DNF)
No. 3 Georgi Georgiev/Vikas Deo (SMU) def. Sebastian Sec/Meecah Bigun 6-2