Men’s Tennis Wins Two, Denies Yale Title

Though the Harvard men’s tennis team was no longer in the hunt for the Ivy League title, this weekend it settled for the next best thing: taking it away from Yale.

The Crimson (13-10, 4-2 Ivy) had back-to-back victories, defeating Brown (10-14, 0-5) on Friday and the Bulldogs (15-8, 4-2) yesterday.

“We did not want Yale to win [the Ivy League championship] on our home court,” junior Aba Omodele-Lucien said. “We were going to do anything we could to win.”

HARVARD 4, YALE 3

The Crimson finished the weekend with a grueling victory over Yale in the Murr Center.

Harvard started off by capturing the doubles point in what has almost become a routine for the Crimson.

“We came out hot again in doubles,” said Omodele-Lucien, who teamed up with freshman Christo Schultz to win at the No. 1 spot, 8-3. “[The No. 2 team] pulled out some clutch shots as well.”

The No. 2 pairing of sophomore Alistair Felton and freshman Andy Nguyen won by a score of 8-6, while the No. 3 team fell to the Bulldogs, 8-3.

Up 1-0, Harvard moved into singles play. The first to finish was Felton at No. 6, who made quick work of his opponent, 6-1, 6-3.

Schultz followed soon with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4, as Nguyen lost his match, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 5.

“Christo did a great job today at No. 4,” Crimson coach Dave Fish ’77 said. “That was a huge one. And Ali was going right after the jugular [at No. 6].”

That left the top three matches to play, with a 3-1 advantage for Harvard. But Yale was far from quitting, and fought each remaining match into the third set.

After long battles on all three courts, No. 3 Omodele-Lucien’s 6-3 victory in the deciding set broke the stalemate and secured the win for Harvard.

“I started off pretty slow, but I was able to come back and stay stronger than him,” Omodele-Lucien said. “I was just happy that I was able to clinch.”

“Aba really kept himself together today,” Fish added.

Freshman Joshua Tchan and junior Alexei Chijoff-Evans went on to lose at Nos. 2 and 1, respectively. In total, the match lasted over three and a half hours.

“The whole thing just sort of fell our way,” Fish said. “It was a home match, an unbelievable crowd...just a great Harvard-Yale match.”

HARVARD 5, BROWN 2

Harvard began the weekend with a 5-2 victory at Brown, which has yet to defeat an Ivy League foe.

The Crimson started out strong in the doubles play, winning the point by a 3-0 score.

“We started off in doubles really hot like we have all year,” Omodele-Lucien said. “We took the doubles point pretty handily.”

The No. 1 pairing of Omodele-Lucien and Schultz cruised to an 8-3 victory, followed by the No. 2 pairing’s tiebreak win. The No. 3 team, comprised of Tchan and freshman Will McNamee, notched an 8-3 win of its own to complete the sweep.

The singles matches, on the other hand, were not so smooth.

“It’s tough playing at Brown,” Omodele-Lucien said. “They’re a real prideful team.”

Harvard fell at Nos. 2 and 3, but victories at the 1, 4, 5, and 6 positions kept the match in its control.

Felton had the clinching match at No. 5, coming back from a 6-5 break to win in the tiebreak.

“[Felton’s win] was a huge one because he’d been going through the struggle of playing well in a match but not quite being able to seal the guy off,” Fish said. “Brown got pumped up at the break, but instead [Felton] firmed it up and won in a tiebreak.”

In the end, the Bears—missing their top player—simply didn’t have the talent to match the Crimson.

“Brown competed real well,” Fish said. “We just had more experience.”

—Staff writer Charlie Cabot can be reached at ccabot@college.harvard.edu.