Crimson's Upset Bid Foiled by Cavs, Close Losses

Coming off a 5-2 win over South Florida, the Harvard men’s tennis team maintained its momentum, but fell, 6-1, against No. 3 Virginia in a match where the score did not reflect the close matches that characterized Crimson play.

“The team showed some strength,” senior co-captain Scott Denenberg said. “Gideon [Valkin] had a close match, Ashwin [Kumar] had a good win, I had a close match, Dan [Nguyen] had a close match. A few of those flip-flop or we win a doubles point, and the match could have gone the other way.”

After a slow start for Harvard, the outcome of the match seemed to be up in the air when the competition received a jolt of energy from a fire alarm that went off 30 minutes into singles play. The team played a few unsure points through the sound before the building was evacuated.

“That has never happened before, ever,” junior Ashwin Kumar said. “Especially in the Murr.”

When the players and fans were allowed to re-enter the building, the play changed dramatically.

“It definitely helped me with momentum,” Kumar said. “That’s when I broke his serve, during the alarm and then kind of ran away with it. It helped some of our guys and hurt some of our guys.”

Playing at No. 4, Kumar contributed the Crimson’s sole point with a 6-3, 6-2 win.

“I’ve been playing well these past few matches,” Kumar said. “It’s a great opportunity to play one of the top teams in the country. I was serving well, and that’s the key to my game.”

UVA has three nationally-ranked players, including No. 2 Somdev Devvarman.

Harvard’s No. 1 player, 100th-ranked sophomore Chris Clayton, picked up his level of play in the second set, fighting his way into longer rallies and preventing easy points on his opponent’s serve before falling, 6-1, 6-1.

“He’s the best player I’ve played against in my college career,” Clayton said. “He was quite consistent, running down balls, and I just didn’t have much to answer with at all.”

At No. 2 Dan Nguyen faced the Cavaliers’ Treat Huey, who is ranked 15th in the nation. Despite his impressive drop shots, and extensive forehand exchanges, Nguyen lost a grueling 6-4, 6-4 match.

“It wasn’t beautiful tennis,” Nguyen said. “He found my weakness and picked on it constantly. I had played him in the past—four years ago. But that’s four years ago.”

While the matches against the nationally-ranked players were punctuated by breathtaking shots and painted lines, it was No. 3 Denenberg’s heartbreaking 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) loss that drew in the crowd.

After being ahead in both sets, Denenberg struggled to finish off his opponent, 80th-ranked Dominic Inglot.

“I guess the only thing I can take away from the match is playing best for most of it,” Denenberg said. “Traditionally, I have pretty close matches, but this guy was pretty tough.”

In a marathon match that outlasted all other play, senior co-captain Gideon Valkin lost in another close match playing at No. 5, 7-5, 7-5.

One court over, No. 6 junior Gareth Doran showed signs of his recent injury, losing 6-1, 6-2.

In doubles play, No. 1 pairing Kumar and Valkin broke Devvarman and Huey, ranked No. 4 nationally, to open the match, but were soon broken back in an 8-5 loss.

It was a similar story for No. 2 pairing junior Kieran Burke and Nguyen, which fell, 8-6.

Despite his singles loss, Denenberg partnered with freshman Michael Hayes in No. 3 doubles to defeat UVA, 8-6.

Harvard travels to California over spring break to play Pacific, Stanford, Fresno State, and Santa Clara. When it returns, it will transition to outdoor play against Boston University on April 4.