Crimson Takes ECAC Crown

It’s still early in the season for the Harvard men’s tennis team, but judging by this weekend’s dramatic climaxes, it’s clear that every point is at stake.

In a tournament of thrilling finishes, Harvard (4-1) captured the ECAC Men’s Indoor Tennis Championships hosted at the Murr Center. With two matches coming down to the wire, the tournament proved a early test of mettle for the Crimson.

“Overall, we’re getting better playing under pressure, and that’s invaluable,” assistant coach Andrew Rueb said.

As the Crimson prepares to defend its Ivy League title, it showed healthy progress with a championship win in a pool that included Ancient Eight opponents as well as St. John’s (3-2) and Boston College.

HARVARD 4, COLUMBIA 3

With a quick turnaround after back-to-back victories in earlier rounds, Harvard defeated Columbia (4-2) to take the championship. Freshman Alistair Felton provided the clinching game with a 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 victory against Ekin Sezgen at No. 4.

“[Felton] doesn’t easily get daunted,” head coach Dave Fish said. “It’s a good attitude for tennis. His attitude has been improving every week.”

Harvard suffered an early setback as it lost the doubles point. At No. 2, junior Michael Hayes and Felton fell, 8-4, while the No. 1 partnership of senior Sasha Ermakov and sophomore Alexei Chijoff-Evans lost, 8-6, to Bogdan Borta and Mihai Nichifor.

The Crimson quickly rebounded by taking the first three singles matches to lead, 3-1. Ermakov equalized by upstaging Borta, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2, and the Crimson took the lead when Omodele-Lucien won 7-6, 6-2 over Kevin Kung at No. 6. Mangham stretched Harvard’s advantage to 3-1 when he defeated Haig Schneiderman, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Columbia matched the Crimson’s resilience through wins for Nichifor (6-1, 4-6, 6-4) and John Wong (7-6, 7-6) to even the score at 3-3, before Felton’s dramatic win.

“We were points away from playing in the third place match this morning,” Fish said. “I was very pleased that we got in right from the beginning of the singles and didn’t let Columbia develop a momentum.”

HARVARD 4, PENN 3

In Sunday’s semifinal, Chijoff-Evans led Harvard to victory after his decisive third-set tiebreaker gained the winning point against Penn (3-4). After dropping the first set, 6-3, to the Quakers’ Hicham Laalej, Chijoff-Evans evened the match with a 7-6 (10-8) victory in the second set. In the final set, each player held serve until the tiebreaker—with Chijoff-Evans holding his nerve to win, 9-7, and clinch victory for the Crimson.

“It was a tough match—he was a really good opponent and played a strong game,” Chijoff-Evans said. “I just tried to step up my game, and Lady Luck was on my side.”

Harvard gained the advantage by winning two doubles matches. Davis Mangham and Aba Omodele-Lucien won 8-3 over Alex Vasin and Justen Roth, while Sasha Ermakov and Chijoff-Evans defeated Laalej and Phil Law 8-2.

The Crimson took a quick 3-0 lead as No. 5 Mangham defeated Vasin, 6-2, 6-2, while No. 2 Ermakov beat Jonathan Boym (6-2, 6-3). Adam Schwartz of Penn ousted Hayes (7-6, 7-6) in an emotional match, inspiring the Quakers to tie the score at 3-3. Law beat Felton (7-6, 7-5), and Jason Lin came from one set down against Omodele-Lucien to win in the third set (4-6, 6-4, 6-2), setting the stage for Chijoff-Evans’s late victory.

“It’s exciting college tennis at its best,” Rueb said.

HARVARD 4, ST. JOHN’S 0

The Crimson set the tone in their first match of the tournament by defeating St. John’s 4-0 at the Murr Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Crimson built momentum through a strong performance in the doubles. No. 1 Ermakov and Chijoff-Evans defeated Derek Wallensteen and Stefan Nikolic, 8-3, while Hayes and Felton won, 8-6, against Pavel Cerny and Gustavo Loza to clinch the first point for Harvard.

The Crimson proceeded to win its first three singles matches to clinch the 4-0 victory. No. 2 Ermakov won comfortably against Milo Hauk (6-2, 6-2) and No. 3 Hayes beat Cerny, 6-3, 6-4. Felton wrapped up the winners by defeating Loza 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4.

While Fish was pleased with Harvard’s tournament performance, he stressed there was still plenty of room for improvement.

“I’m satisfied at this checkpoint [in the season], but we haven’t gotten anywhere yet,” Fish said. “We’re on the right track.”