Energized Crimson Earns Sweep

There’s no place like home for the Crimson—even on a grueling day overloaded with homework.

Faced with consecutive opponents on Saturday—Binghamton (1-6) at noon and local rivals Boston College (2-3) in the evening—a young Harvard men’s tennis lineup showed a remarkable resilience and maturity to record 5-2 and 6-1 victories, respectively. Its achievement was made all the more remarkable by the absence of co-captains junior Chris Clayton and senior Dan Nguyen due to illness.

“It was a great and long day,” assistant coach Andrew Rueb said. “We were very good at taking the game to our opponents today, one through six, and as a coach that’s all you can ask for.”

To counter the loss of the captains and preserve the players’ energy, the coaches shuffled the doubles partners for both matches—a tactic resulting in five wins out of a possible six. In the perfect response to last weekend’s defeats to No. 47 Kentucky and No. 1 Virginia, a series of stellar performances across the board ensured the Crimson (4-2) regained momentum.

HARVARD 6, BOSTON COLLEGE 1

From a Crimson perspective, having lost its captains, having played a game earlier in the day, and coming up against a rested opponent, it would be forgiven for thinking that this derby would be a close encounter.

However, Harvard dispelled all notions of fatigue by overwhelming Boston College in another emphatic victory.

“The energy was fantastic,” Rueb said. “Everybody got a chance to play today, and everyone made a contribution.”

Harvard set the tone with a pair of resounding victories in the doubles, clinching the point. Junior Sasha Ermakov and freshman Aba Omodele-Lucien led the way with an 8-3 victory over Eagles counterparts Garber and Wagner at No. 2, while senior Ashwin Kumar and sophomore Michael Hayes’ irresistible combination of power and flair proved too much for Kreutzer and Sechrist in an 8-4 triumph at No 1.

With the Eagles’ wings clipped and their fervent traveling support silenced, the Crimson went on to dominant proceedings in the singles. No. 3 Omodele-Lucien—in his fourth dual of the day—demolished Sechrist, 6-2, 6-2, while No. 1 Kumar continued his rich vein of form against Nolan, the senior powering to a 6-3, 6-4 win. The contest was salted away by No. 5 Will Guzick, as the freshman hit a delicate lob to clinch a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“Today was awesome,” said Kumar, who remains undefeated in dual singles this season. “We had to fight really hard and play our best to win.”

With the result secured, Harvard added gloss to the score line. Ermakov withstood a late surge from Rastorgouev at No. 2 to win 6-1, 7-5, clinching match point with a sweeping cross-court half-volley. The Eagles snatched a consolation point at No. 6 before No. 4 freshman Alexei Chijoff-Evans came from three match points down in the second set to win, claiming the third-set tiebreaker 10-2 and the dual 3-6, 7-6, 1-0.

HARVARD 5, BINGHAMTON 2

In the day’s earlier match, Harvard was made to work for victory by a capable Binghamton side still looking for its first win in February.

“I was really proud of my guys,” head coach Dave Fish ’72 said. “I thought that Binghamton had a very good lineup—I was very impressed by their depth.”

In a common theme of the day, the Crimson asserted itself in the doubles. Clayton and Hayes stormed to an 8-4 win at No. 2, the former later succumbing to illness, while at No. 1, Kumar and Omodele-Lucien clinched the doubles point in a gritty 8-6 win over Dobrin and Leyes. At No. 3, the freshman combination of Tim Wu and Cam Parker capped their varsity debuts and secured the clean sweep with another 8-6 victory—a moment savored by the whole team.

“It was a great moment,” Rueb said. “We were all excited to watch them do it.”

While the singles proved tougher, the Crimson was too cool for the Bearcats. Kumar defeated Levy 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1, followed by an Omodele-Lucien win at No. 4, 6-3, 6-4. Harvard sealed the match with Ermakov at No. 2, in a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 win, establishing a 4-0 lead. Binghamton rallied and recorded consolation victories at No. 5 and 6, while No. 3 Chijoff-Evans prevailed in a heated clash with Dobrin in a third set tiebreaker, 7-6, 5-7, 14-12.