Men's Tennis Sweeps Penn and Princeton

Finding confidence at home, the No. 50 Harvard men’s tennis team (13-10, 2-2) triumphantly ended the weekend with two Ivy League victories.The Crimson bested Penn 6-1 (7-13, 2-2) on Saturday and overcame No.37 Princeton (14-8, 2-2) on Sunday for a close 4-3 win.

“Everyone watching provided fantastic energy and a lot of support,” freshman Andy Zhou said. “Due to this, the team was riding the confidence waves.”

PRINCETON 4, HARVARD 3

The Tigers proved to be the bigger challenge on the weekend, as Harvard barely upset Princeton 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Murr Center.

The Tigers entered the weekend with an undefeated record in the Ivy League, earning a pair of 4-1 wins against both Brown and Yale. Additionally, sophomore Luke Gamble entered the match at the No.5 spot having triumphed in his last 10 decisions.

The Crimson, however, came into Sunday’s matchup with a 52-45 all-time series lead over Princeton, using its 4-3 victory against the Tigers last season as a foundation for confidence.

" Although we weren't able to get the doubles point today which was too bad, we were able to bounce back with strength in singles," co-captain Nicky Hu said. "Sebastian beat a great player at No. 2 and he really clinched for us today in front of his family."

Handling the pressure with grace, Beltrame closed the match for Harvard in a 6-4 third set victory from the No. 2 spot. Beltrame began the game with a first set win of 6-3, but was faced with a challenging battle as Princeton junior Tom Colautti gained the advantage in the second set 7-6 (5). Beltrame’s tiebreaker triumph gave Crimson the edge over the Tigers after a squared score of 3-3.

Starting at a 2-1 loss in the doubles point, the Crimson fought back to win four of six singles matches to gain the upper hand.

Hu fought back from a 6-3 loss in the first set to win the last two 6-3, 6-4. Zhou and freshman Christopher Morrow also took home straight set wins, as Zhou ended Gamble’s win streak with a 6-4, 6-4 victory and Morrow defeated Princeton freshman Jimmy Wasserman, 6-3, 6-0.

"Anytime a team strings together two victories, it is a positive reinforcer," said Hu. "If the team really focuses on one match, one point at a time, we have a real chance to make NCAA."

HARVARD 6, PENN 1

Blazing past Penn 6-1 on Saturday at the Murr Tennis Center, the Crimson started the weekend strong.

Sophomore Kenny Tao seized the match that ensured a Harvard victory at second singles on Saturday against the Quakers. Fighting back after an initial 6-1 loss in the first set against senior Vim de Alwis, Tao captured the following two sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Zhou rallied back from a first-set loss as well at fourth singles, taking the next two sets in order to defeat Penn junior Matt Nardella.

“My opponent was a lefty and liked to mix up his serve so it took me awhile to figure out my own strategy against him,” Zhou said. “The key I think became my returns against his serves. I was able to catch on to what he was trying to do and I was then able to break him a few times.”

Senior Kelvin Lam and sophomore Jean Thirouin also both posted singles’ wins. Lam defeated Quakers’ sophomore Josh Pompan in the No.3 slot in a three-set match, coming back after an initially close set of 5-7. He took the final two sets with a twin score of 6-3. Thirouin secured a victory in the No.6 slot. After decidedly concluding the first set, 6-3, a narrow margin 7-6(4) broke the tie-breaker in the second, giving Thirouin the match.

Freshman Christopher Morrow added force to the momentum with a two-set singles gain.

On the road to clutching the doubles point, all three Harvard pairs established what the Crimson had come to do. Ready from the beginning to claim victory, the doubles seized a win in all three matches.

The duo of co-captain Nicky Hu and junior Brian Yeung defeated its opponent, 6-3, while junior Sebastian Beltrame and Thirouin earned a victory in a tighter 7-5 match.

Zhou and Morrow overpowered their opponents as well at second doubles, posting a 6-3 triumph to conclude the doubles sweep.