Young Players Gain Experience as Crimson Hosts Tourney

This weekend at the Big Crimson Halloween Invitational, Harvard men’s tennis offered a number of its less experienced players the chance to get a few more games under their belts before spring play begins.

“[This was] an end-of-the-season tournament to get more matches for the players who needed it,” said Crimson assistant coach Andrew Rueb ’95. “We needed more chances to play tournaments. This helps us build for spring and our team competition.”

The Harvard-hosted invitational ran from Friday until yesterday afternoon in the Murr Center and featured players from Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, and Tufts.

Dartmouth’s Xander Centenari pulled out a win in the Singles A Flight final yesterday morning, while a Brown team defeated another pair of fellow Bears in the Doubles A Draw final later that afternoon.

No Harvard players advanced to any of the four final rounds.

“Results-wise, we didn’t do as well as we expected to,” junior Jonathan Pearlman said. “We worked on different doubles plays and different skills that we’ve been working on and been developing for the spring.”

Despite the disappointing results for the Crimson, junior Mac McAnulty made a strong appearance in the Singles A Flight Consolation final, and the doubles pair of Pearlman and sophomore Will McNamee had a very good showing in the Doubles A Draw Consolation final.

Pearlman and McNamee won their consolation round, 9-8, 8-6, but according to Rueb, McAnulty had the best performance of the weekend, even though it culminated in a 6-1 loss to Brown freshman Brandon Burke in the third set of the final.

“Mac just brought this kind of energy, and he had a lot of determination,” Rueb said. “He’s very physically powerful, and now he’s becoming more dogged and stingy in not giving up free points.”

Captain Aba Omodele-Lucien used this tournament as a chance to return to play for the first time after his recent shoulder surgery.

He lost in the second round but managed to beat Burke within two sets of his opening match.

“Aba played a very strong first round for coming off a shoulder injury,” Rueb said. “It gave us a window into what his game might look like in the spring if he stays healthy.”

While several of the Crimson’s players spent the weekend resting and recovering from last week’s regional tournament, the team nevertheless benefitted from the learning experience provided by the Halloween Invitational.

“Everyone’s leaving this weekend hungry to get more matches and ready to win,” Rueb said.