Terriers No Match in Crimson's Ivy Tune-up

The Harvard men’s tennis team racked up a dominating 7-0 victory over Boston University yesterday, a win sweetened even further by the fact that the lineup featured many players who do not usually see action in the Crimson’s starting lineup.

“I was happy for the guys that have been working so hard through the year and don’t get a chance to play regularly,” said coach Dave Fish ’72. “They all did just great.”

The match, which was arranged between Fish and former teammate and Harvard tennis captain, BU coach Rocky Jarvis ‘69, gave many new players a chance to warm up before the Ivy League season opener against Cornell this weekend.

“This match is serving as a preparation for that match, and giving guys who have not been in the lineup recently a shot to sharpen their game,” sophomore Chris Clayton said.

Clayton, who usually plays No. 1, did not play yesterday.

“It’s getting the other guys ready in case we need them,” co-captain Gideon Valkin added.

This tune-up match started out well for the Crimson, who easily won the doubles point 3-0.

At No. 1 Doubles, Valkin and fellow co-captain Scott Denenberg sailed past Boston’s Barrett Wolf and Giulio Gallarotti 8-1, and at the No. 2 spot, junior Dan Nguyen and freshman Michael Hayes defeated Ross Lohr and Charles Weinstein 8-0.

With the point already decided, the No. 3 doubles team of junior Kieran Burke and sophomore Michael Kalfayan also earned Harvard a decisive victory, with an 8-2 win over Jared Kobren and Jeff Chudacoff.

In singles action, Harvard dominated as well, winning all six matches.

In the No. 2 spot, sophomore Sasha Ermakov posted a quick 6-1, 6-2 win against the Terriers’ Weinstein, sailing past his opponent, in marked contrast to his grueling matches during spring break.

This was soon followed by another Harvard victory from No. 5 Kalfayan over Chudacoff by a score of 6-2, 6-0. At No. 3, senior Shantanu Dhaka defeated Gallarotti 6-1 6-1, in his first match back after suffering an ankle injury last year.

No. 6 junior Gareth Doran breezed by Lohr 6-2, 6-0 and junior Ashwin Kumar won at No. 1 over BU’s Wolf 6-2, 6-3.

Last to finish was No. 4 Burke, who pulled through a split of the first sets to win the super-tiebreaker over Jared Kobren 6-7 (5-7) 6-3, 10-6.

“Kieran finished off a big one against a very scrappy player,” said Fish.

Although the No. 4 match started off very close, with many deuces and alternating leads, Burke was able to pull ahead and give Harvard a unanimous win over the Terriers.

“The team came out and took care of business,” Dhaka said.

The Crimson men will use this easy victory to boost their confidence for their upcoming Ivy matches against Cornell and Columbia. Fish is looking forward to this weekend, but he also has a plea for Harvard fans.

“I hope a lot of people come out,” Fish said.

“The guys play with a lot of passion, so I hope they’ll have people cheering them on.”