Depleted M. Tennis Squad Takes Home Doubleheader

After a long, exhausting day at the courts, the No. 19 Harvard men’s tennis team had plenty of reasons to smile. The Crimson dominated both ends of its double-header on Saturday, running its record to 7-3.

In the morning, Harvard picked up a 6-1 win over No. 42 Michigan State, and in the evening, the Crimson capped off a successful day with another 6-1 victory, this time over No. 60 Old Dominion.

Although the Crimson was without two of its regular players, it refused to let this affect its level of play or end its winning streak, which now stands at four games.

No. 30 Martin Wetzel, the team’s top singles player, sat out with a shoulder injury, while sophomore Scott Denenberg, another starter, had the flu.

Their teammates—particularly junior Brandon Chiu and sophomore Gideon Valkin—stepped up their level of play in the absence.

HARVARD 6, MICHIGAN STATE 1

The Crimson started the day with a bang, sweeping the doubles matches and all but one singles match over the Spartans.

The doubles matches were extremely competitive, as two of them reached tiebreakers. Co-captain Jonathan Chu and freshman Ashwin Kumar, playing the top doubles match, defeated Andrew Formanczyk and Nick Rink, 9-8 (3).

Co-captain Jason Beren and junior Brandon Chiu scored an 8-3 victory in the second match, while senior Jordan Bohnen and Valkin—playing together for the first time—beat Cameron Marshall and Michael Flowers, 9-8 (6), the third contest.

Valkin and Bohnen recognized the difficulty of playing with new partners, but both seemed to enjoy the challenge.

“We enjoy playing with each other,” Bohnen added. “We have good chemistry,”

After the tight doubles matches, the Crimson regained its composure for the singles competition.

No. 28 Chu easily defeated Formancyzk 6-4, 6-1 in the top singles spot, and Chiu followed suit in the fifth slot, beating Joseph McWilliams 6-3, 6-0.

In a tight three-set match, sophomore Shantanu Dhaka outlasted Adam Monich 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (3).

Freshman Dan Nguyen lost a marathon match to Nick Rinks in the Crimson’s only defeat of the morning. After Rinks grabbed a 6-3 victory in the first set, Nguyen struck back with a 6-3 second-set win. Both players refused to blink in the seemingly endless third set, but eventually Rinks persevered, winning 14-12.

HARVARD 6, OLD DOMINION 1

The Crimson finished Saturday’s double-header just as it had begun, grabbing the doubles point with victories in all three doubles matches.

Although the doubles teams were a bit different from usual, they played with the usual intensity.

Beren and Chiu—who had also played their first match together just that morning—defeated Eidy Igarashi and Rodrigo Souza, 8-5. After Harvard’s duo jumped out to a 6-1 lead, Igarashi and Souza climbed back to within two games, to bring the score to 7-5. Beren and Chiu grabbed the next and final game, however, to seize the win.

“Today was the first time I had played doubles with Jason,” Chiu said, adding, “We complimented each other well.”

Chu and Kumar, currently ranked No. 26 in the nation, secured an 8-6 victory in a tight, back-and-forth contest against No. 24 Izak van der Merwe and Nate Grover.

At third doubles, Bohnen and Valkin defeated Henrique Cancado and Juliano Cirimbell, completing the doubles sweep. After securing the first point in just under an hour, the Crimson rode this momentum into the singles matches.

Valkin, playing his fourth match of the day, showed no signs of fatigue as he quickly dispatched Monarch foe Juliano Crimbelli, 6-3, 6-1, at sixth singles.

“I’ve been sitting out for three weeks, and today I was given a chance,” said Valkin, who stepped into the singles and doubles lineups admirably. “I played well and stayed aggressive. I played my own game.”

Chiu followed with a victory of his own at fifth singles, beating Adriano Mello, 7-5, 6-4.

In an exciting match at second singles, Kumar won a three-set battle over Henrique Cancado, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. After dropping the first set, Kumar nailed two aces in the first game of the second set and never looked back in a match was permeated by grunts and yells from both sides.

Nguyen dug deep, defeating Eidy Igarashi at fourth singles. Nguygen gave his all in grabbing the first set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (3), and he then took the second set, 6-3.

Chu, again playing in the top singles spot, dropped the only match for the Crimson, losing a marathon contest to No. 21 Izak van der Merwe.

Although both of the day’s opponents were ranked lower than was Harvard, the Crimson players recognized the importance of these victories.

“Any time we play, we want to win,” Beren said. “In these matches, our mindset was the same. We knew that the other teams would want to win, and that they would come out hitting and energized.”

Harvard hopes to build on Saturday’s victories as its prepares for the Blue/Gray Invitational in Montgomery, Alabama, which takes place March 10-12.