Top-Level Competition Challenges Resilient Crimson

Although the season is just beginning for Harvard men’s tennis, its schedule suggests that the hard work starts now.

From Friday to Sunday, the Crimson competed in two tournaments: the Northeast Invitational held in Flushing, N.Y. and the Brown Invitational held in Providence, R.I.

With the Northeast USTA collegiate event providing a mixture of opponents—from highly-seeded national programs to Ivy League and local college teams—it was the ideal preparation for Harvard. With important tournaments to be played in the upcoming months, the Crimson aims to continue its progress.

“I’m really pleased with our players,” Harvard coach Dave Fish ’72 said. “They came with a really good attitude—they’ve all shown signs of being able to step up the level of their game.”

Faced with an exhausting combination of doubles and singles action over three days, Harvard responded with a series of strong performances.

“We got a lot of matches in. The guys showed a lot of mental toughness, playing a lot of tennis over three days,” co-captain Chris Clayton said. “I was happy with the way everybody performed, especially under pressure, and being a little tired by the final day.”

In the Northeast Invitational, Harvard produced a competitive display with several successes throughout the singles brackets. Competing in bracket one, Clayton opened with a double Ivy League scalp—defeating Princeton’s George Carpeni (6-3, 6-3) and Colombia’s Jon Wong (4-6, 6-0, 7-5)—although he eventually succumbed in the semifinals to Jonas Berg of Mississippi (7-6 (4), 6-1).

In bracket two, Alexei Chijoff-Evans enjoyed an undefeated singles weekend; following Friday’s wins over Michael Land of Marist (6-1, 6-2) and Robert Rotaru of Louisville (7-6 (4), 6-4), the sophomore continued his fine form into the later rounds of the tournament, culminating in a final 7-5, 6-3 win over Boston College’s Thomas Nolan to clinch the bracket.

Notable Crimson victories were also recorded by senior Michael Hayes and freshmen Davis Mangham and Alistair Felton—the latter winning the fifth bracket.

“Overall, I was very pleased and very encouraged by [the team’s] attitude, cohesiveness, professionalism—and all of us can get better,” Fish said. “It’s been a great second weekend for us.”

In the Brown Invitational tournament, Harvard highlights included a doubles bracket one win for Tim Wu and Cam Parker—the duo combined for an 8-5 win over Bucknell’s Jonathan Brenner and Gregg Cohenca in the decisive final game.

While the tougher tests are yet to come for the Crimson, its performance over a hectic weekend and scope for development certainly provides encouragement.

“The guys are working hard to maximize what they do, and that’s really our goal this year—consistency,” Fish said. “So to see us come out in the third day of play still looking strong, and able to go a win a couple of flights, was very encouraging for us at this stage in the season.”

—Staff writer Allen J. Padua can be reached at ajpadua@fas.harvard.edu.