M. Tennis Improves To 4-0 In Ivies

The Harvard men’s tennis team continued on a linear path to the NCAA tournament this weekend, easily defeating Ivy foes Penn and Princeton at home.

Competing in both its league home opener and its first session at the outdoor Beren Tennis Center since the fall, the Crimson (12-4, 4-0 Ivy) nipped the Quakers (9-9, 1-3) on Friday, 5-2, before stomping out the Tigers (9-8, 2-2) by a 6-1 score the following afternoon.

Harvard 6, Princeton 1

Harvard was on target from the start in the doubles portion of the match. The No. 3 team of co-captain Dalibor Snyder and sophomore Mark Riddell struck first against Princeton’s Dan Friedman and Josh Burman. On match point, Snyder made an impressive falling-over-backwards overhead to seal an 8-5 victory.

The doubles point was clinched when the No. 1 team of junior David Lingman and freshman Jonathan Chu finished off their 8-3 drubbing of Tim Kofol and Judson Williams a few minutes later. As a finale, co-captain William Lee and sophomore Chris Chiou stormed back from an 0-3 deficit to complete the sweep with a 9-7 win.

If the Tigers had come to fight, they left their gloves in New Jersey. Of the five singles matches Harvard won, four were in straight sets.

At the No. 5 spot, Lee rolled over Kofol, 6-2, 6-2. Lingman, who had played at the top spot Friday but was facing Trevor Smith at the No. 2 position. The junior mirrored Lee’s score with a 6-2, 6-2 victory as well.

Harvard picked up the fourth and deciding point a few minutes later when Riddell completed an overwhelming 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Darren Joe at No. 4.

Sophomore Cliff Nguyen rounded out the Harvard score with a tight three-set victory at No. 3 over Burman, while Chu faced little problems at No. 1.

Harvard 5, Penn 2

The Crimson was already hot coming into Friday evening’s match, having rolled over Columbia 7-0 in its last match. Harvard’s ever-rotating system of doubles combinations led to some new duos. Lee and Chiou played for the first time together and shined in a 8-1 victory over Brian Barki and David Lynn. Lingman and Chu picked up the doubles point with their 8-4 win at No. 1, beating Fanda Stejskal and Ryan Harwood.

“When you play by the system, which is how we’re taught, it shouldn’t matter who you play doubles with,” said Chu, who earlier this year teamed up with junior Oli Choo.

Chu struck first in the singles, this time at the No. 2 spot, when he only dropped two games in a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing of Lynn. The Crimson got within one point of victory when Nguyen completed his straight-set victory over Harwood at No. 3.

Stejskal scored an important and impressive victory for the Quakers by taking out Lingman at the top spot, 6-3, 6-4. Stejskal has only lost once at the No. 1 spot this season.

Penn pulled within one point when Harvard sophomore George Turner dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Todd Lecher.

In the meantime Lee, playing at No. 5, and Riddell, at No. 4, were racing to finish up their respective matches, each of which had gone into a third set. Lee, facing Athony Pu, took a quick lead in the set and ended up finishing first, winning 6-2 in the third set and clinching the Harvard victory. A point later, Riddell put away Barki 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Harvard next faces Yale at home on Friday at 2 p.m. Yale was the only Ivy team to beat Harvard last year, and the Elis also defeated the Crimson last fall at the Beren Tennis Center when Harvard hosted the ECAC championships.

“We’re about 3/4 of the way through our four-month saga,” Chu said. “This is the week we’ve been gearing up for.”

M. Tennis 6, Princeton 1

at Beren Tennis Center, Allston, MA

Doubles

1 Lingman/Chu (H) def. Williams/Kofol (P) 8-3

2. Lee/Chiou (H) def. Chasse/Smith (P) 9-7

3. Snyder/Riddell (H) def. Friedman/Burman (P) 8-5

Singles

1. Chu (H) def. Williams (P) 6-3, 6-3

2. Lingman (H) def. Smith (P) 6-2, 6-2

3. Nguyen (H) def. Burman (P) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2

4. Riddell (H) def. Joe (P) 6-1, 6-0

5. Lee (H) def. Kofol (P) 6-2, 6-2

6. Friedman (P) def. Chiou (H) 7-6, 6-4

M. Tennis 5, Pennsylvania 2

at Beren Tennis Center, Allston, MA

Doubles

1. Lingman/Chu (H) def. Stejskal/Harwood (P) 8-4

2. Lee/Chiou (H) def. Barki/Lynn (P) 8-1

3. Rubin/Pu (P) def. Snyder/Riddell (H) 9-8

Singles

1. Stejskal (P) def. Lingman (H) 6-3, 6-4

2. Chu (H) def. Lynn (P) 6-1, 6-3

3. Nguyen (H) def. Harwood (P) 6-3, 6-1

4. Riddell (H) def. Barki (P) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

5. Lee (H) def. Rubin (P) 7-6, 6-7, 6-2

6. Pu (P) def. Turner (H) 6-4, 6-2