Spring training trip to South Florida brings mixed results and training for men's tennis

With the opening of a new semester, the Harvard men’s tennis team returned to action this past weekend by taking on Kentucky and the University of South Florida.

Against the Wildcats, the Crimson managed to win four out of eleven matches on Saturday at the USF Spring Invitational.

Senior Brandon Chiu pulled out the best win for Harvard on the day, beating No. 84 Nate Emge by an easy 6-0, 6-1 margin.

The Crimson also had victories in the singles portion of competition against Kentucky from junior Gideon Valkin and freshman Nick Savage—who won 6-1.6-4 and 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, respectively. The Wildcats won the top three singles matches as well as the first two doubles—with a team of Valkin and freshman Chris Clayton pulling out the final doubles match.

On Sunday, the Crimson came up emtpy handed against the Bulls as four USF players swept the four singles match-ups between the two teams. Both Chiu and sophomore Brian Wan took their contests to three sets, but fell by scores of 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, respectively. Clayton and freshman Sasha Ermakov both lost their matches to complete the blanking at the hands of the Bulls.

—THE CRIMSON STAFF