Young Guns Gain Court Experience

The Harvard men’s tennis team, fresh off its sweep of the singles and doubles events at the Wilson/ITA Northeast Tennis Regionals, had an impressive run this weekend at the Dartmouth Big Green Invitational in Hanover, N.H.

Although the Crimson was not successful in pulling an all-out victory, the squad did see three of its younger players battle through the early rounds to win spots in the semifinals in the Singles (A) Flight draw.

Harvard faced off against a number of the top teams in the New England area, including Dartmouth and Saint Francis College, competed.

Although the Dartmouth Invitational does not have quite the high level of prestige of the Northeast Tennis Regionals and the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, the tournament is considered one of the events where younger players can establish themselves as future contenders in tennis.

“The tournament is a place where younger players can get a great experience and improve on their games,” assistant Coach Andy Rueb said. “It’s one of the necessary steps and stages from the junior levels to college to top tennis.”

Sophomore Aba Omodele-Lucien the No. 1 seed of the Singles A draw of the tournament started the tournament in a dominant stride, making quick work of his first opponent, Brian Song of Dartmouth College, in straight sets for a 6-2 6-1 lead.

Omodele-Lucien went on winning until he encountered Czech Jindra Chaloupka of Saint Francis College in the semifinals.

“Chaloupka is one of strongest players in the region,” Rueb said. “Really polished serve, huge forehand. Despite his big size, he moves really well. Our players could not sustain.”

Although Omodele-Lucien put up a good fight, Chaloupka went on to finish the No. 1 seed in straight sets, 6-4 6-4.

Up until two weeks ago, junior Spencer Vegosen had been unable to compete in tournaments due to a complicated injuries to his core and back.

But Vegosen’s second round match with Dartmouth’s Curtis Roby proved to be one of the most high-strung matches of the tournament. Breaking Roby in the first set at 5-5, Vegosen was able to hold his serve and earn himself the first set. Roby struck hard in the second set with a slew of passing shots. But Vegosen rallied back in the final tiebreaker and overwhelmed Roby with a dominant 10-4 victory.

“Spencer has been able to distinguish himself in the classroom but up until now hasn’t managed to distinguish himself on the courts,” Rueb said. “This was his first collegiate singles tournament. He played four matches in two days, and even though he ran out of gas in the end, we are enormously pleased with his performance. His was the best story of the weekend.”

It was freshman Alistair Felton who bested Vegosen in the end in their semifinal match. Despite his inexperience, Felton made quick work of his opponents, and with the win over Vegosen, secured himself a position in the final.

In the end, Felton was bested by Chaloupkha, 6-4 6-4.

“In the second set Alistair really pushed Chaloupkha,” Rueb said. “He broke Chaloupkha twice in the final set but couldn’t consolidate his breaks. This shows a little bit of inexperience, but he is now just getting his feet wet. We expect great things from him but still have a ways to go until the spring.”