Harvard Players Tune Up at USTA National Tennis Center

Playing on courts fresh from the U.S. Open several weeks ago, the Harvard men’s tennis team squared off this weekend at the BJK NTC Men’s College Invitational at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

“It’s fun to play on a place where professionals play,” junior Aba Omodele-Lucien said. “The courts were really nice and obviously maintained well, it being one of the top tennis facilities in the world. At the end of the day, though, I view it as just another tennis court and a training ground to work on my game.”

In the No. 2 singles round of 16, freshman Andy Nguyen came from behind to defeat Kirill Kasyanov in a three-set match, 6-7, 6-1, 10-7, propelling Nguyen to the quarterfinals, where Nguyen got a break by defeating the No. 2 seed Phil Law, 1-0, after Law retired due to injury.

Nguyen’s run fell just short in the semifinals, where No. 4 Gilbert Wong rode an intense first set to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory.

In the same event, No. 3 Omodele-Lucien handled Joe Michalisin in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 but was set back 3-6, 6-0, 10-8 by Martin Kosut before being upset in the round of 16 by Christian Coley, 6-3, 1-6, 3-10.

“As far as singles go, I was pretty disappointed with my performance,” Omodele-Lucien said. “I didn’t really play my game that great, wasn’t seeing the ball that well, and was worried a bit more about winning than playing well.”

Sophomore Alistair Felton had a strong start in No. 1 singles by defeating Sho Matsumoto, 6-0, 6-2. Felton then felt victim in a close match to Akash Muppidi, 7-5, 7-5, and couldn’t rebound before being eliminated in the round of 16 by Jon Jaklitsch, 7-6, 1-6, 6-10.

In No. 3 singles, senior Michael Hayes played at the No. 1 seed, making short work of Nicolas Pisecky, 6-1, 6-2, in the round of 16. Hayes proved his mettle in the quarterfinals when he came from behind to win one of the longer matches of the tournament, 5-7. 6-4, 10-8, against Pavel Cerny. But Hayes fell short in the semifinals, losing two close sets, 6-4, 7-5, to the eventual runner-up Loic Sessagesimi.

Omodele-Lucien and freshman Joshua Tchan were seeded No. 3 in the No. 1 doubles event and had an easy going early, winning two matches due to injury retirements and defeating Bandhari/Jaklitsch, 8-1, en route to an appearance in the round of 16.

The Crimson squad fell short in a close match, losing, 9-8, 7-6 (6), to Vloedgraven/Wong.

“Me and Josh are really starting to play well together,” Omodele-Lucien said. “He’s starting to learn the ropes fast, and that’s always a good sign. The most important thing about these fall tournaments is building confidence as a team, and we’ll do that by working on the correct things and making sure in these tournaments we do what we do in practice. In general we need to worry about things that will kick in three months from now instead of worrying too much about the present.”

Michael Hayes and Andy Nguyen competed together in the No. 2 doubles event in the No. 1 slot, defeating Lin/Wong in a thrilling 9-8 quarterfinal victory.

After gaining slightly more breathing room in an 8-6 defeat over No. 4 Bernstein/Fife, the Harvard duo couldn’t complete the run, losing in the finals, 8-5, to No. 2 Muppidi/Schroeder.

“As a team, we use the fall to test our skills against the best competition and see how much we’ve improved from last year and see how far we have to go to become contenders in the spring,” sophomore Davis Mangham said. “There is less pressure, and you can really let things go and see how things are developing and how our team stacks up against the best players in the country.”

Up next for the Crimson is an Oct. 8 trip to Tulsa, Okla. where Harvard will compete in the ITA D’Novo All-American Tennis Championships, its first of three ITA tournaments this fall.