Saiontz Leads M. Tennis

The Harvard men’s tennis team continued its strong fall with a solid showing at the Penn Invitational in Philadelphia this weekend.

In yet another testament to the Crimson’s depth, the team was led by freshman Brent Saiontz—a player who has yet to crack Harvard’s singles rotation.

En route to a finals loss to Fonda Stejskal, Penn’s No. 2 player, Saiontz defeated the Quakers’ No. 1 and No. 3 men in consecutive three-set matches. He then paired with sophomore teammate George Turner to take the doubles title.

“I haven’t had a lot of opportunities during the year,” Saiontz said. “I felt this was a big opportunity for me to take advantage of, and I feel like I executed.”

In the first elimination round, Saiontz dispatched Penn’s No. 3 player, senior Brian Barki, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5. The upset set up a quarterfinal showdown with Penn’s top player, junior Ryan Harwood.

After falling behind early to Harwood and dropping the first set, 2-6, Saiontz recovered to take the next two, 6-3, 7-5.

Saiontz also took his own team by storm in the semifinals, defeating sophomore George Turner in straight set tiebreakers, 7-6 (12), 7-6 (7).

“It’s never fun to play against guys on your own team,” Saiontz said. “But it was a really good match. The first set tiebreaker, 14-12, it was as intense as any I’ve played.”

Saiontz ultimately lost in the finals to Stejskal, 6-2, 6-2, who improved to 8-1 on the year.

Saiontz did get to take home a title after he and Turner won the double championship. The duo took out teams from Penn and St. Joseph’s before defeating Dan Freedman and Hendrik Chasse of Princeton, 8-4, in the final.

“We’re a new team this year, and we’ve gotten we’ve gotten better with each tournament,” Turner said. “We started out shaky at the Harvard Invitational, but after going undefeated at Notre Dame, we’re pretty confident.”

Freedman and Chasse were the third-seeded team of the tournament.

“It’s always good to beat a team from Princeton,” Saiontz said.

The standout performances by Harvard understudies did not end with Saiontz. Sophomore Chris Chiou defeated Princeton’s Josh Burman—a player who generally plays near the top of the Tigers’ order—6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the tournament’s opening round.

Next weekend, the Crimson will travel to Princeton for the ITA Regional Individual Singles and Doubles Championships. For the singles players and three doubles teams Harvard sends, the weekend will represent an opportunity to win a berth to the ITA Nationals next month.

It will also be another opportunity for the team to flaunt its depth again as the stretch run nears.

“I think we have a really deep team,” Saiontz said. “We get a wide variety of great play in practice, and I think we’ll be right there fighting to get the NCAA spot we got last year.”