Results Mixed In Outdoor Matches

Once each tennis season, a phenomenon occurs where teams from the north are forced make the transition out of their comfort zone of indoor tennis to the completely different game of outdoor tennis.

This weekend, the Harvard men’s tennis team made that adjustment, splitting contests with a 6-1 loss at Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday and a 5-2 victory over William & Mary yesterday.

“It’s always tough to move outside,” co-captain Brandon Chiu said. “But it was nice to get a couple days of training. I’m sure everyone improved.”

With the split, the Crimson’s record shifts to 3-5.

HARVARD 5, WM. & MARY 2

Following a loss to Virginia Commonwealth, the Crimson was motivated yesterday and came out firing against the No. 68 ranked Tribe.

They snagged the all-important doubles point early, taking two of the three matches, including a decisive 8-2 victory on court three by the pairing of junior Scott Denenberg and sophomore Gideon Valkin.

“We came out big and won the doubles point,” Chiu said. “Those are always crucial to give you a kick start to the match.”

In singles action, William & Mary took the No. 1 and No. 2 matches, but the Crimson’s depth was too much for the Tribe, as Harvard swept the remaining four contests for the victory.

Freshman Chris Clayton continued his outstanding play, efficiently finishing off the No. 4 match, 6-0, 6-3.

Sophomore Brian Wan fell behind early in the No. 3 match, but he battled back to defeat his opponent, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2.

The Crimson also received singles wins from junior Shantanu Dhaka and sophomore Dan Nguyen.

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 6, HARVARD 1

Playing a very experienced opponent on the first “adjustment day” outdoors, the Crimson fell to the No. 20 Virginia Commonwealth Rams on Saturday in Williamsburg, Va.

The Rams started hot, taking the doubles point by winning two of the three matches. They were led by their No. 45 nationally ranked duo of Arnauld Lecloerec and Petr Olsak, who defeated the Crimson pair of Chiu and sophomore Ashwin Kumar, 8-3.

“Those guys came out pretty hot. They were on top of us pretty early,” Chiu said.

More of the same occurred following the switch to individual play. Freshman Sasha Ermakov battled in the second set of his match, eventually falling short, 7-5. Chiu, playing against the No. 19 singles-ranked Leclorerc, was defeated, 6-2, 6-2.

“We had a lot of good points—he just came up big on the big points,” said Chiu of his match. “That’s what you have to expect from the top players.”

One bright spot for the Crimson was the play of Clayton, who picked up Harvard’s lone point in his 6-4, 6-1 singles victory in the fifth slot.

“He’s been coming out big for the last couple weeks.” said Chiu of Clayton. “He’s been a very good leader as a freshman.”