SPORTS BRIEF: In the first real tests of the spring season, Men’s Tennis loses tight, 4-3 matches to Pudue and Northwestern

After training in Florida last weekend, the Harvard men’s tennis team opened its spring season with two losses on the road this weekend, falling 4-3 to Purdue and 4-3 to Northwestern.

The Boilermakers won the doubles point Saturday and then split the singles matches against the Crimson for the victory in West Lafayette, Ind. Harvard managed to push Purdue to 3-3, but sophomore Dan Nguyen’s heartbreaking loss—7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3—proved the decisive match in the Boilermakers’ ultimate victory.

It was more of the same yesterday in Evanston, Ill., when the Wildcats won two of three doubles matches for the all-important point.

In following that performance, Northwestern then nailed down three singles matches to edge Harvard. Sophomore Ashwin Kumar dropped the decisive contest at the No. 1 spot by two tiebreaks.

Harvard travels back to the Land of Lincoln to face the University of Illinois next Sunday in Champaigne.

—THE CRIMSON STAFF