Northwestern Sneaks Past Harvard

A gutsy effort by the Harvard men’s tennis team could not lift the Crimson past Northwestern in its home opener on Friday, as the Wildcats squeaked past Harvard in a contest that came down to the last set on court one.

Though the Crimson appeared to have shaken off much of its early-season rust, Harvard fell, 4-3, to a Wildcat squad that was at times overpowering, at times too quick, but very often beatable.

With the overall score 3-3, the Crimson’s hopes rested on the shoulders of No. 1 Chris Clayton.

The 93rd-ranked sophomore had fought through numerous long rallies to force a second set after dropping his first, 6-2, to Northwestern’s speedy Willy Lock.

After a first set that featured much dizzying action, Clayton changed into a fresh white T-shirt. The road-team camouflage and dry shirt brought Clayton momentum that lasted him through the second set, which he took 6-4, and four games into the third set.

Leading 30-0 at 2-2, Lock nicked a Clayton overhead smash just over the net for a fortuitous, match-changing winner. With the momentum now in his favor, Lock held Clayton off with relative comfort.

“It’s hard to match Chris’s quickness, and that guy did,” said Harvard coach Dave Fish ’72. “And he had just a little bit more.”

Clayton would not have had to the chance to win had it not been for the heroic performance of No. 5 senior Gideon Valkin, who fought through crippling cramps in the last four games to win the third set of his match, 7-5.

Though he won his first set handily, by a score of 6-2, Valkin seemed tired in his second set and lost it, 6-3.

“I was trying to overcome nerves pretty much the whole match,” Valkin said. “When you’re a bit nervous, you expend a lot more energy.”

Nonetheless, Valkin matched his opponent blow for blow for seven games. Up 4-3, Valkin seemed poised to break his opponent, but three questionable calls over the course of four points cost him the break and drew howls of anger from the crowd.

At that point, Valkin says, he began to feel cramps coming on in his quadriceps. He was promptly broken, and during the side change, he lay stomach-down on the court, getting stretched by the trainer.

Things looked dire, but Valkin fought through, breaking his opponent back and then holding his own serve to go up 6-5.

“Ultimately, [getting cramps] was a blessing in disguise,” Valkin said. “I was still really nervous at the end, but I just couldn’t really run any more, which forced me to go for it [and] took away my nerves a little bit.”

After securing the victory, Valkin tossed his cap into the air and walloped it with a forehand in celebration before limping over to shake his opponent’s hand.

Harvard’s other two points came from dominant victories at No. 4 from junior Dan Nguyen, who won his singles match, 6-1, 6-1, without seeming to break a sweat, and at No. 3 from co-captain Scott Denenberg, who silenced the Wildcats’ biggest server, 6-3, 6-1.

For Nguyen, the dominant performance in both singles and doubles continued a hot streak that stretches back to the beginning of the spring season. He has won six straight matches, but none as decisively as Friday’s match.

“I was clear,” Nguyen said. “I was clear on my game plan, game style, and I essentially didn’t hold back.”

In doubles, the Crimson’s recent struggles continued, as the tandem of Nguyen and Clayton was the only one that succeeded in pulling off an 8-4 win at No. 3, while No. 2 Denenberg and Valkin lost, 8-5, and No. 1 junior Ashwin Kumar and freshman Michael Hayes lost, 9-8(4).

NOTE: Sunday’s scheduled match against Manhattan was postponed until the weekend of Feb. 24 after the Jaspers’ bus experienced technical difficulties.

—Staff writer Jonathan B. Steinman can be reached at steinman@fas.harvard.edu.