Harvard Earns Home Wins Before Ivy League Play

Playing one match in one day is tiring for most teams.

The Harvard men’s tennis team (11-7), then, displayed extra grit by defeating two opponents within a span of only eight hours yesterday at the Murr Center.

“Often, if you want to get your guys who don’t get to play more match time, you play a doubleheader,” said Crimson coach Dave Fish ’72. “So, we held out and we figured out a strong enough lineup to beat Fairfield.”

The lineup change did not faze Harvard—it showed that the team is deep enough that any player can step up when called to play.

“I thought it was a good day,” Fish said. “We’re exhausted. I’m sure the players are, too. It’s served its purpose.”

These games were a good tune-up with Ivy League play beginning the upcoming Friday against Cornell, the highest ranked team in the division.

HARVARD 4, FAIRFIELD 3

After using a set of players in the first game, Fish changed up his lineup to put out enough force to defeat the weaker Stags (6-6).

“Against Fairfield, that was a pretty tough match,” sophomore Joshua Tchan said. “The rest of the team had to step up and take the challenge.”

After winning the doubles point, the Crimson faced off against the Stags in singles play.

The only athlete to play in both matches on Sunday was Tchan, who was able to finish off his opponent in two sets on court one.

“This was a great one because Josh Tchan played the six earlier and then the one here,” Fish said. “He played a very different match than he had played against the number six. Sometimes people play to a level. He was playing fairly conservatively in the morning. [This afternoon], he just went after it.”

In the matchup of the number threes, senior Alexei Chijoff-Evans easily disposed of his Fairfield opponent, 6-4, 6-3. Chjioff-Evans was able to frustrate his opponent with powerful shots that took his challenger off his game.

On court six, sophomore Tunc Kiymaz won his match, 6-2, 7-6. According to Fish, Kiymaz’s under-pressure forehand winner was crucial in Harvard’s victory over Fairfield.

With these three wins and the doubles point, the Crimson had finished victorious before the other three matches wrapped up.

Junior Mac McAnulty, freshman Brendan Seaver, and classmate John Thornton lost their matches soon afterward.

In McAnulty and Seaver’s games, both won their first frames, but the Stag players were able to rebound, taking the next two sets.

“This coming week we’re going to practice more doubles to sharpen our skills a bit,” Tchan said. “In singles, we’re going to continue to push each other and work hard.”

HARVARD 5, ILLINOIS STATE 2

After dropping three straight doubles matches against Illinois State (10-5), Harvard was able to secure a victory by decisively defeating the Redbirds in five of six singles matches.

Though all three doubles matches were relatively close, the Crimson was unable to pull out any victories.

The team of sophomore Andy Nguyen and junior Alistair Felton played well against the Illinois State pair of senior Filip Miljevic and freshman Mya Smith-Dennis on the second court, but they still fell 8-7.

“Illinois State was a really tough match for us,” Tchan said. “It was our first match since spring break. We started playing rusty in the doubles, and we just weren’t playing as well we could have [played].”

But the doubles matches did not deter Harvard during the singles matches, as the Crimson shook off its spring break rust.

“We played really well coming out of the box playing singles,” Fish said. “They got out to a lead in just about every match, which tends to put a lot of pressure on the other team.”

On the first court, nationally-ranked junior Jonathan Pearlman defeated Redbird sophomore Alexander Pelaez, 6-2, 6-4.

The Crimson had similar success on courts three through five as Felton, Nguyen, and freshman Casey MacMaster cruised past their opponents in straight sets.

Tchan had a tougher match, winning the first set, 6-2, but losing the second, 7-6. In the final set tiebreak, Tchan was able to muster a win, 10-6.

The only loss that Harvard suffered in singles play was at court two, where captain Aba Omodele-Lucien was blanked by Illinois State senior Timon Reichelt, 7-5, 7-5.

After the victories, the Crimson has more confidence heading into matches against Cornell and Columbia next weekend.

“We play what is considered the top [Ivy] team in Cornell on Friday,” Fish said. “There are a lot of good teams, but there’s nobody that’s unbeatable. We’ll see what happens; we’ll be one of those good teams but better.”