Weekend Includes Two Decisive Victories for Men's Tennis

n an exciting Easter Sunday showing for the No.50 Harvard men’s tennis team (12-8), the Crimson upset No.38 Old Dominion (14-4), 4-3, and defeated No.7 Amherst (9-3, 1-0 NESCAC), 5-2.

The two home wins reflect the team’s recent upward trajectory as it recovers from a few losses in San Diego over spring break and prepares for the start of Ivy League play next weekend.

“We’ve had a tough stretch the past two weeks,” co-captain Conor Haughey said. “We’ve played a lot of good teams and haven’t had the results we’ve been looking for, so it was good to see it all come together today and get some confidence.”

HARVARD 5, AMHERST 2

Harvard took a decisive lead with three consecutive wins on the doubles side. The duo of junior Brian Yeung and sophomore Jean Thirouin claimed a 6-4 victory at first doubles. Haughey and Kelvin Lam won 6-2 at second doubles, while freshman Michael Peters and co-Captain Nicky Hu came out on top at third doubles as well.

“Obviously having a double header when the second match is at 5pm on Easter Sunday isn’t the easiest time to get fired up and dig down and fight hard, but we all worked together and really made it happen,” Haughey said.

Playing first singles, freshman Andy Zhou claimed a 6-2, 6-2 victory over his Purple & White opponent. Thirouin overcame a close first set to handily take the second set in a 7-5, 6-1 win at second singles. Amherst earned a point at third singles in a tight third-set tiebreaker, but the Crimson countered with a similar third-set win from Haughey.

Harvard and the Purple & White split fifth and sixth singles, with freshman Sam Beren taking a 6-3, 6-4 victory at fifth while Peters suffered a loss at sixth. But the Crimson’s total was enough to secure its second victory for the day.

The double-header against a top-tier school gave the team an opportunity to give freshmen and other players valuable playing time.

HARVARD 4, OLD DOMINION 3

After starting the season at No.32 and dropping to No.50 over the past few months, Harvard’s win over No.38 Old Dominion was an upset that snapped the Monarchs’ 12-match win streak.

“I think the good results came from the team carrying on from where we left off on the last day in San Diego where we trusted and committed to our game-styles more, and that really paid off in the crucial points today,” freshman Christopher Morrow said.

The Monarchs pulled ahead early by winning the opening doubles point and Harvard suffered two 6-3 losses at second and third doubles, leaving the third match at first doubles unfinished.

“We’ve been struggling all year to figure out the doubles point,” Haughey said. “But I think we do have a lot of confidence in the guys’ singles ability to go out and play with their backs against the wall…. The guys really stepped it up today after losing the doubles point.”

The Crimson clinched the four of six wins in the singles competition that it needed. The situation seemed precarious for Harvard when Hu fell to Old Dominion sophomore Adam Moudir in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, extending the Monarchs’ lead to 2-0.

But the Crimson came back with its own straight-set win from senior Kelvin Lam at fifth singles in a quick 6-1, 6-3 victory. At fourth singles, Zhou similarly took down his opponent 6-0, 6-3.

“Old Dominion is a really good team so everyone had to play their best to win, and a couple of strong performances from our fourth, fifth, and sixth pulled out the win for us,” sophomore Kenny Tao said.

Old Dominion took one more win at third singles over Yeung, but Harvard edged the Monarchs out with two close victories at second and sixth singles. Senior Sebastian Beltrame snagged a tiebreaker win in his second set over Old Dominion freshman Aziz Kijametovic at second singles. Morrow recovered from dropping his second set and fended off his opponent in the third set to solidify Harvard’s win.

“[Morrow] has been playing really well the past few weeks for us, so it’s pretty great for all that work and effort to come to fruition and for him to pick up the clinching win for us,” Haughey said.

–Staff writer Jamie Chen can be reached at jamiechen@college.harvard.edu.