Six Things You Need to Know About the 2025 Men's Tennis Team

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Men's Tennis team resumes its 2024-25 season on Saturday (Feb. 8) against Case Western. Here are six things you need to know about this year's team, coached by seventh-year head coach Tom Linhart.  
 
Last Season
RIT finished 6-9-1 in dual matches in 2023-24, including four home wins. The Tigers returns nine players from the 2023-24 squad, including Grahith Movva who led RIT with six wins in singles.
 
Back in the Fall…
The Tigers competed in two tournaments last fall, competing at the St. Lawrence Fall Classic and the ITA Northeast Regional. Junior Gabriel Escobar won the "C" Singles flight and sophomore Alec Turcotte and first year Yu Tanimoto won the "A" Doubles title at the St. Lawrence Fall Classic. Turcotte also fell in the finals of "A" Flight Singles. The Tigers won three dual matches defeating Nazareth (7-0), Allegheny (4-3) and Daemen (6-1).
 
A Mix of Veterans and Newcomers
RIT features nine veterans and four newcomers on the roster this spring. Seniors Christian Berko, Max Chang, Grahith Movva and Joel Pho anchor the returning group. Linhart brought in four talented first year players in Tyle Mitrovic, Vladislav Shoshev, Alexander Sinclair and Yu Tanimoto.

"This is probably the deepest team we have ever had," said Linhart. "That depth is going to give us some flexibility that we have not had and will help us stay healthy over the course of the season.  
 
Singles
Movva recorded six wins last season and recorded a 1-0 record in the fall. Pho won five matches last season and two this fall, while Turcotte and sophomore Luke Weber each won four matches last season. Weber went 2-0 in singles this fall and Mitrovic and Tanimoto each had two wins in the fall.

"It is exciting to see how high the ceiling is for these guys," said Linhart. "We have players that could fit in any spot in our lineup and the ability to move players around and match up with teams is going to be incredibly important this Spring. With that depth and difference in game style, it is going to be an exciting season."
 
Doubles
Berko and Weber teamed up to record an 8-2 record last season, while Movva and Turcotte combined to post an 8-4 record. Tanimoto and Turcotte and Sinclair and Escobar each teamed up to go 2-0 in dual matches in the fall.
 
"We have a lot of options in terms of parings at doubles," said Linhart. "The ability to match up our young talent with veteran leadership is going to be crucial for us. Even with the new rule change regarding doubles it is still a big part of gaining momentum in a match and we believe we will be a tough team to take down on the doubles end of the court"
 
Schedule
RIT begins the spring season against Case Western Reserve (Feb. 8) followed by a match at Rochester (Feb. 15). The Tigers host Oneonta (Feb. 16) before competing at the Drew Doubles Tournament (Feb. 22-23).

March begins with a home match against Hamilton (March 2) then hit the road for a pair of matches against NYU (March 8) and The College of New Jersey (March 9). RIT returns home to host Ithaca in the Liberty League opener (March 26).

RIT hosts St. Lawrence (April 5) and Skidmore (April 6) before a pair of road matches at RPI (April 12) and Vassar (April 13). The Tigers continue their road swing with a match at Bard (April 18) and Hobart (April 23) before closing out the regular season at home against Union (April 26).