Wolverines Get Best of Crimson

The first loss for the Harvard men’s tennis team at home this season certainly did not come without its share of frustration.

In its third match at the Murr Center this year, the Crimson (5-7) lost, 3-4, to No. 29 Michigan in a match that went down to the wire.

Harvard split the six singles matches with the Wolverines, but Michigan took two out of the three doubles matches to secure the crucial doubles point that helped it edge the Crimson.

“Overall it was a good team effort,” said sophomore Dan Nguyen, who played in the fifth spot for Harvard and beat his opponent in straight sets. “But we’re still not yet playing the best we can play. I mean the pieces are slowly coming together, and the guys on the doubles teams are getting more familiar with their partners. We’re almost there. We just have to get over the hump.”

Co-captain Brandon Chiu, already used to facing the toughest competition at the top spot, faced Matko Maravic, ranked 37th in the nation, and lost, 4-6, 2-6.

“Things are starting to fall into place,” Chiu said. “I’m playing some tough players, and I just have to keep on working on my own game, and not get fazed by the level of play.”

Sophomore Brian Wan, playing in the No. 2 position, lost to Brian Hung of Michigan, 4-6, 4-6. In the third singles spot was freshman Chris Clayton, who defeated Ryan Heller, ranked No. 125 in the nation, 6-2, 7-5.

“Chris has brought in the most energy in practice and in matches throughout the season,” said sophomore Ashwin Kumar of the freshman. “He’s been really effective for us from the four and five positions, and today he got a chance to play in the third and he came through....Chris was in control all the way.”

Kumar, playing in the sixth position, defeated Scott Bruckmann, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

The key singles match of the day came down to another freshman, Sasha Ermakov.

Ermakov dropped the first set, 3-6, to Andrew Mazlin, but rebounded with a 6-3 win in the second set. He struggled in the final set and fell, 3-6, for the loss.

In the doubles matches, the Crimson’s tandem of sophomore Gideon Valkin and junior Scott Denenberg defeated the Wolverines’ Steve Peretz and Scott Bruckmann, 8-5, in the No. 3 match. Harvard, however, could not pull off another doubles victory during the day.

In the No. 2 match, Nguyen and Wan lost to Heller and Mazlin, 2-8. In the top spot, Kumar and Chiu were edged out, 6-8, by the nationally-ranked dual of Hung and Maravic.

“I was pretty pleased with the way we played,” Chiu said. “We probably played the best we had in the past month or so. But the guys that we were playing were pretty experienced. They knew what they were doing on the court.”

“We’ve had a few 4-3 matches already,” Nguyen said. “We’re either a doubles point away or singles match away. We want to win, and we’re so close. We’re all playing better, but we’re playing better teams as well. Still, everyone on the team expects us to win, and we should have beaten this team today. That’s the general mentality.”

Harvard heads to California next week in a rare chance to play outdoors. The level of competition will continue to rise and prepare the Crimson for the Ivies next month.

—Staff writer Tony D. Qian can be reached at tonyqian@fas.harvard.edu.