MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's men's tennis team opened Midwest Conference play Saturday morning with a 9-0 dual loss to title contender Lake Forest inside the Small Sport Center Arena.
 
Cornell sophomore No. 1 player Alexander Hadler-Strumlauf hung tough with Oleksyi Vyshyvanyuk in a 6-2, 6-4 setback. At No. 3 singles, Chris Penas-Hull fell by the same margin – 6-4, 6-2 – to Zach Cho.  
 
Lake Forest (7-7 overall, 1-0 MWC) took all six singles matches in straight sets.
 
Cornell's No. 1 doubles pair of Hadler-Strumlauf and Justin Mendez dropped an 8-4 decision. Penas-Hull and Edwin Holyoake fell 8-2 at No. 2, while Bryce Fincher and Ravi Parekh were shut out at No. 3.
 
The Rams travel to play defending MWC champion Grinnell at 2 p.m. Sunday.