HMT #34: Yale and Brown on tap this weekend/Senior Day on Sunday

 

​Frosh Kenny Tao and Grant Solomon taking charge...

In this issue:

Yale and Brown on Tap

Harvard downs #35 Princeton and Penn

Crimson Beats #48 Cornell but Falls to #22 Lions in Epic Battle

 

Yale and Brown on Tap

 

The Crimson heads south on I-95 tomorrow, Friday, to face the Yale Bulldogs at 1pm in New Haven.   Come out and support the team if you live in the area.  Sunday is Senior Day in Cambridge as we square off in the last home match of the season against the Brown Bears at 1pm.  Help us send off H'15s Henry Steer, Alex Steinroeder, Shaun Chaudhuri and Denis Nguyen in style! 

 

Harvard downs #35 Princeton and Penn

 

Last weekend, the Netters travelled to Penn and Princeton for a pivotal Ivy weekend.  Despite a blustery Philly day, we were able to hold off the Quakers 5-2 with strong performances from our freshmen – Kenny Tao (#5 singles), Grant Solomon (#6 singles) and Jean Thirouin (#2 doubles), who all garnered wins on the day. 

 

On Sunday, we faced off for the third time this season against the Tigers.  We had beaten them 4-2 at our place in the ECAC tournament and lost to them 4-3 on spring break.  This would be another heated contest.   Princeton started strong and won the doubles point with great wins at 1 & 3 doubles positions.   In singles, it would again come down to the wire.  Denis Nguyen and Sebastian Beltrame would give the Crimson two wins at #1 and #3 respectively, while Grant Solomon fell to an inspired Tiger at #6, which knotted the match at 2-2.  There was still plenty of drama left.   Nicky Hu got up two match points in the second set – but that was as close as he was to come, as he succumbed to full body cramps in the third.  Meanwhile, Brian Yeung was in the third set when his opponent fell and twisted his ankle – leaving him hobbled for the final frame.  Point to Harvard.  Now the match was 3-3.  On the upper courts, freshman Kenny Tao was playing for all the marbles, but had lost his first set.  Ironically, his Tiger opponent, Luke Gamble, had clinched the decider only a few weeks earlier on spring break.  Kenny plays with penetrating groundstrokes off both wings (in the mold of Derek Brown for all you older fans).  With Coach Fish counseling him to stay aggressive and come forward, Kenny was able hold his nerves in check and serve out the match to clinch the team win!    Click here for a full wrap up and all the scores.

 

Crimson Beats #48 Cornell but Falls to #22 Lions in Epic Battle

 

In the first Ivy weekend of matches, the Crimson topped a tough Cornell team 4-3, before failing to the Lions 5-2 at the Murr.  The Lions are having an incredible year, led by four seniors whom we we will be happy to see graduate!  It was another fantastic match with great crowd support and fantastic tennis.  The doubles point came down to the wire.  Our top pairing of Denis Nguyen and Brian Yeung, who are ranked #17 in the country, won quickly and put us ahead, but Columbia countered, edging out wins at #2 & #3 to secure the doubles point.  In singles, five of the six matches would be three set affairs, with all the matches up for grabs.  Nicky Hu was up a set and break only to fall at #2.  Sebastian Beltrame would save match points at #3 and battle back to victory while Grant Solomon did the same by saving one match point in the second to win.  Suffice to say, it was a barnburner, with both teams leaving it all out on the court.  Needless to say, while disappointed we couldn't pull off an upset, we were very proud of our guys.

 

You can find all the scores and highlights here.

Andrew Rueb

  

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Dave Fish
Scott Mead Family Head Coach of Men's Tennis
Harvard University Dept of Athletics
Murr Center
65 N. Harvard St.
Boston, MA 02163
fish@fas.harvard.edu
GoCrimson Men's Tennis website
Harvard Men's Tennis blog