WEB UPDATE: Crimson Downs Pilots in Singles

Continuing an unwelcome trend of late, the Crimson men’s tennis team entered the singles against the Pilots one point down, with two choices—fight or flight.

Unsurprisingly, it emphatically opted for the former.

While students were jetting off on their spring break vacation, No. 57 Harvard (7-4) welcomed Portland (11-4) on Friday at the Murr Tennis Center. The Crimson beat the Pilots, 6-1, in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Despite a wide margin of victory for Harvard, it was far from smooth sailing.

For the third consecutive match, the Crimson was forced to rely on a dominant singles display to clinch the win, after the Pilots sent them crashing to another doubles defeat.

“I thought that Portland played great doubles against us,” head coach David Fish ’72 said. “I honestly didn’t know what to expect in the singles if they could keep up that kind of torrid pace.”

In a ruthless singles period, Harvard swept to clear set victories across the courts as the Pilots’ energy levels fell. Freshman Alistair Felton sent the Crimson airborne at No. 3, leveling the scores and claiming victory over freshman Geoff Henandez (6-1, 6-3) through a return winner down the line. Against Portland’s Evan Schleining, No. 6 sophomore Aba Omodele-Lucien clinched the decisive fourth point with a 6-3, 7-5 win.

“We’ve been working hard on our singles, and our guys are pretty tough from the baseline, so we weren’t that concerned going into the singles,” said senior co-captain national No. 77 Chris Clayton said. “But our doubles are something we’ve definitely got to keep working on.”

From the outset, the Pilots shook Crimson nerves with an aggressive doubles performance. At No. 2, the combination of Felton and junior Michael Hayes crashed to an 8-3 defeat to Portland’s Joel Kincaid and Nikoloz Kurdadze. Against the Pilot’s Hernandez and Nick Wales, No. 3 partnership Omodele-Lucien and freshman Davis Manghan fought back from 5-0 down, but ultimately fell in an 8-6 loss. The point already lost by Harvard, the No. 1 duo of Clayton and sophomore Alexei Chijoff-Evans fell 8-5—much to the co-captain’s dismay.

“We didn’t win a single doubles point, which is tough,” said Clayton. “So I was pretty angry going into the team room, just because it’s frustrating to have lost the last three doubles points [in last three games].”

If the Crimson wanted to stretch its home winning streak into double figures, it had to respond with four wins in the singles matches. In a statement of intent, five of the Harvard lineup raced into a one-game lead, with all of them ultimately claiming the opening set—the ideal reaction from Fish’s perspective.

“It was definitely a wake up call—you never know quite how you’ll react,” said Fish. “If people panic, you’re in worse trouble…these guys didn’t panic, and just kept going. That’s the sign of a team that’s still growing and getting better.”

The Crimson secured the equalizer through Felton’s fine early win, opening the floodgates for a straight-set singles whitewash. Hot on the heels of the Felton’s success, No. 2 Chijoff-Evans beat Kincaid (6-4, 6-2) with a delicate drop shot, before Hayes secured a 7-5, 6-4 win over Kurdadze at No. 4.

“[Felton] did a fine job by jumping right on the guy right away,” said Fish. “We need to show [that] same kind of aggression in the doubles that we’ve shown in the singles.”

At No. 6, Omodele-Lucien secured the overall win for the Crimson, followed by keenly-contested wins in close succession for No. 5 Mangham against Thorp (6-3, 6-4) and No. 1 Clayton over Zivkovic (7-5, 6-3).

Set to embark on its annual spring break tour of California—encompassing four opponents in eight days across the Golden State—the Crimson will have an ideal opportunity to lay its doubles point hoodoo to rest.

With the start of the Ivy League matches less than two weeks away, such a development could prove the key to retaining the championship.

“These guys are learning right now, and we hope that these are just the sort of lessons we need to do well in the Ivies,” said Fish.

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