Depth Keys Pair of Wins for M. Tennis

For the first time in almost a month, nothing extraordinarily interesting happened to the No. 20 Harvard men’s tennis team—and that was a good thing.

Unlike the squad’s disappointing spring break trip to California and last weekend’s emotional Ivy opener, this weekend’s matchups against Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania went entirely as planned. There were no new injuries. There were no stunning upsets. Rather, the Crimson (14-6, 4-0 Ivy) reeled off 5-2 and 7-0 victories, respectively, both of which were impressively efficient and routine.

And though the Harvard coaches shuffled lineups from Friday to Saturday, the consistency of both days’ scores speaks to the depth the Crimson squad carries.

“It’s really a curse at the same time as a blessing for the coaches to have to choose between so many guys who can play six [singles] spots,” said junior Jonathan Chu, who played the top singles match on Saturday after playing second on Friday. “We just hope to put the right six in the lineup at the right time.”

So far, so good.

HARVARD 5, PRINCETON 2

According to associate coach Peter Mandeau, the Crimson’s contest with the Tigers (10-9, 3-2 Ivy) is “a traditional big match.

“No matter whether Princeton is ranked or not ranked,” he explained, “it’s a big rivalry. It’s like a Harvard-Yale.”

The rivalry seemed a bit one-sided on Friday, as the Crimson had little trouble solving the Tigers’ lineup. Harvard won the doubles point, though the squad dropped the second match—that of senior Mark Riddell and co-captain David Lingman—by an uncharacteristically sloppy 8-4 count.

The recently-formed top duo of Chu and sophomore Brandon Chiu won 8-4, and the third pair of senior Chris Chiou and freshman Gideon Valkin clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 victory, though the match held its fair share of tense deuces.

“[I was] under a little bit of pressure playing the clinching match,” Valkin said, “but Chris helped me out.

“I don’t know if I would have been able to come out and play if it wasn’t with someone so experienced,” he later added.

And with the doubles point secured, the Crimson began to close out its third straight Ivy victory. Lingman began the individual competition by handing Tiger opponent Daniel Friedman a pair of bagels with a quick and painless 6-0, 6-0 win in the top spot.

Chu, playing second, also finished second with a sound 6-4, 6-3 victory, and Chiou sealed Harvard’s success with a 7-5, 6-0 win in the fourth slot.

Senior George Turner took a 7-5, 6-2 match from Princeton’s Tim Kofol—whom Turner had faced competitively for years—and as each player knew the other’s game, the match stretched on longer than its score would indicate.

Harvard lost two singles matches, as freshman Jack Li suffered a 6-4, 6-2 defeat and junior Martin Wetzel fell 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 1-0 (4).

However, the latter loss marked Wetzel’s first dual match since the fall, as he was sidelined with a lingering groin injury. Though the native German’s movement was visibly limited, he began to open up his trademark blistering forehand as the match progressed.

HARVARD 7, PENNSYLVANIA 0

Entering Saturday’s contest, the Quakers (12-7, 1-4 Ivy) were without a national ranking and had prevailed in only one of the last three matches. The Crimson, on the other hand, was riding a three-match win streak which had pushed the team up to No. 20 in the country.

And so it came as no surprise that Harvard managed a clean sweep of Pennsylvania, winning the doubles competition and improving the record of Chu and Chiu to a perfect four-for-four with an 8-4 victory.

Riddell and Lingman, having recovered and regrouped from Friday’s loss, won 8-3. And though the new third pairing of Valkin and Turner lost 8-6—this after holding a 6-4 advantage—Harvard had already clinched the doubles point.

And though the coaches also tweaked the singles lineups, the Crimson had little trouble dismantling the Quakers.

Chu, this time playing the top match, won 6-0, 6-3—and Harvard thus lost only three games at No. 1 singles all weekend.

Lingman, now playing second, also won 6-3, 7-5, and Riddell took the third match 6-3, 6-2.

Wetzel played fifth, this time seeming a bit more comfortable moving across the court, and he won in easy 6-2, 6-2 fashion.

“It was like a whole different match today,” he said. “I think I made a big step forward in trying to come back into my style of playing.

“Usually I try to really go after the balls, but if my timing’s a little off, I miss my target spot. Today was a whole lot better than yesterday.”

Chiu took the sixth singles match—the only match which needed a deciding third set—2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

And once again, Turner managed to stretch his match for all it was worth, winning 7-5, 7-5 nearly four hours after the entire Crimson-Quaker dual match commenced.

Ending the weekend in a clean sweep could serve as a confidence-booster as Harvard looks forward to Friday’s matchup with the Brown Bears, a contest intensified because the squads share the throne atop the Ivy Division with matching 4-0 records.

Friday’s victor will likely take the Ivy crown. Both squads will face only Yale and Dartmouth before the season ends, two opponents which Brown and Harvard easily overmatch.

“It certainly gives us momentum just to get matches under our belt,” Chu said of his team’s efficient weekend, “but we’re not taking anything for granted. We know it’s going to be a dogfight in Providence, so we’re looking forward to it, and hopefully all cylinders will be firing healthy.”