National Stage Unkind to Crimson

Captain Chris Clayton and sophomore Alexei Chijoff-Evans finished off the fall season last weekend at the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Charlottesville, Va. The two formed a doubles team, and Clayton also competed in the singles draw after wins in both at the ITA Northeast Regionals Oct. 21.

Harvard was one of only eight schools to have entrants in both the men’s singles and men’s doubles competitions, which featured the top 16 players in the nation in each bracket.

“You really aren’t going to play anyone better in doubles or singles than you are at indoor nationals,” Chijoff-Evans said. “It’s probably one of the most elite college tournaments of the year.”

The only win of the tournament for the Crimson came in the first round of doubles Thursday, when Clayton and Chijoff-Evans took down Andrew Landwerlen and Martin Zimmermann of Denver, 8-4.

It was Chijoff-Evans’s first time on the national tournament stage, and he felt the gravity of the moment.

“When I was going out there, I was feeling really nervous…I really didn’t know what to expect,” Chijoff-Evans said.

Despite opening up with an uncharacteristic two double faults, he quickly managed to overcome his nerves.

Harvard’s tandem fought off an early threat and broke the opposing team’s serve three times on its way to the win.

“The Denver guys broke back one time,” said Harvard coach Dave Fish ’72. “But Chris and Lexei pretty much shut them down.”

Facing Mississippi’s Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge—seeded fourth in the main doubles draw—Harvard’s representatives fell in the next day’s quarterfinals, 8-2.

Clayton and Chijoff-Evans stayed in the match up to 2-2, but the momentum shifted after they failed to hold serve.

“We just made one or two silly errors…we had a little confusion at one point…and we got broken,” Chijoff-Evans said. “They just took over the match.”

The Crimson pair fared no better in their third match in Saturday’s exhibition doubles, losing to Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh of Virginia 7-6 (2), 6-4.

In a very close first set, Clayton and Chijoff-Evans were broken in the opening game. They then broke back, but lost the eventual tiebreaker.

Harvard was broken again after several deuces in the first game of the second set, and that proved to be the difference.

“They played really well, but not consistent enough,” Fish said. “They weren’t really outdone; they just were out-consistent-ed, if that’s a real word, by teams that generally see that level of play more than we do.”

As for singles, Clayton lost 6-4, 6-0 Thursday in his first round singles match against Wake Forest’s Cory Parr.

Clayton never truly hit his stride in his opening match, unable to unleash his big serve and forehand.

“Sometimes things don’t go your way or your game’s not on,” Clayton said. “It was one of those weekends.”

A day later, he ended up facing the No. 2 seed of the consolation bracket, John Patrick Smith of Tennessee, and managed to put up quite a fight, eventually succumbing to the 7-6 (6), 7-5 defeat.

Clayton came back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set to obtain a few set points in the tiebreak, but he couldn’t close it out.

He had more opportunities in the second set, breaking Smith at 3-3 and serving for the set, but it never materialized, as he lost his serve in consecutive games.

Clayton managed to impress his coach with the way he regrouped from the first-round loss.

“It’s hard to come back after you take a beating, and he came back really well,” Fish said.