Men's Tennis To Take On Boston College in Cross-Town Matchup

The Harvard men’s tennis team (13-1) is looking to continue its winning streak Wednesday night against cross-town rival Boston College (4-7, 0-5 ACC) at the Murr Center.

The No. 16 ranked Crimson has been red-hot rattling off nine straight victories, including the ECAC championship against Ivy League rival Brown, 4-1, and a 4-2 upset over then-No. 16 University of San Diego to win the Hilton Mission Valley Spring Classic in San Diego on the Mar. 17.

“It’s always nice to get a win over a top-ranked team to show that we can compete with anyone,” freshman Shaun Chaudhuri said. “But we know that this is a pleasure and a privilege to play and that we have to come into each match prepared.”

The Eagles, on the other hand, have struggled this season, dropping five of their last six decisions, including a recent 7-0 drubbing at the hands of No. 5 Virginia.

But the Crimson is not looking past Boston College, which despite its recent losses has played some of the top competition in the nation so far this season.

“We are pretty confident right now, but we also realize that BC is a good team and we have to make sure we aren’t over confident,” Harvard freshmen Alex Steinroeder said. “Our team has been playing at a very high level and everyone is contributing, so it’s nice to have that kind of confidence going forward.”

The Crimson boasts a young roster with its top six singles players including four freshmen. This group of first-years, consisting of Steinroeder, Denis Nguyen, Chaudhuri and Henry Steer, has been vital to the team’s success so far this campaign.

The trio of Chaudhuri, who has a 19-6 record this season, Steinroeder (17-6), and Steer (15-6) has had a direct impact on the team’s dominance this year. Harvard’s strength in these courts will put pressure on the Eagles, who have been shuffling their backcourt lineup in recent matches.

“It’s pretty amazing how many guys we have on our team who are willing and able to step in and contribute,” Steinroeder said. “It really helps to have the majority of the guys only playing singles or doubles so that we are very fresh for our matches. Even some of the seniors who had been playing in the past, such as our captains, have been willing to go and play doubles for us.”

The No.1 court matchup between senior Akash Muppidi for the Eagles and senior Jon Pearlman for the Crimson will be a highly contested competition, as both players have performed solidly throughout the season. Muppidi was Boston College’s first two-time all ACC selection and stands as the Eagles’ best hope for a singles victory. Both Pearlman and Muppidi are slated to compete in the doubles and singles portions of the contest.

These two squads share some history. In February of the 2010 season, Harvard and Boston College squared off against one another with the Eagles earning a 5-2 victory. Many of the players from the BC team two years ago are returning for revenge, including Muppidi, senior Alex Skinner, senior Jonathan Schroeder and junior Billy Grokenberger.

His last time out, Muppidi defeated Crimson co-captain Alistair Felton in singles play, Skinner fell to Harvard junior Andy Nguyen, and a Grokenberger-Shroeder pairing lost to Felton and Nguyen in doubles play.

There will be multiple rematches between these foes on Wednesday, mostly in the doubles competition, where each squad has showed strong play. As the doubles are played first, these matches will set the tone for the entire matchup.

“We are looking to bring a lot of energy,” Chaudhuri said. “We start with three doubles matches, so we look to carry momentum from the doubles into the singles. It’s our goal to show other teams that we are very mentally strong and that we are going to compete hard in every match.”

Despite being the favorite, the Crimson is not taking anything for granted.

“Our coach told us that every match is just as important as the last one and we have to take every match seriously,” Steinroeder said. “Sometimes we are the underdog, other times we are the favorite, but we have to make sure that we have the same intensity going in so that we can perform at the highest level possible.”