Men's Tennis Finishes Fall Season

The Harvard men’s tennis team closed its fall season on a high note this weekend, placing two singles players and a doubles team on the all-tournament team at the Tribe Invitational, which was hosted by William and Mary in Virginia.

Junior Shaun Chaudhuri and freshman Sebastian Beltrame earned singles honors, while the duo of sophomore Nicky Hu and freshman Brian Yeung earned accolades for doubles.

“Overall, it was a great tournament to wrap up the fall season,” junior Alex Steinroeder said. “We did very well against William and Mary and Old Dominion, not losing any singles matches…. Nicky and Brian did a great job in doubles going undefeated against some good doubles teams.”

The tournament marked the team’s last action until January, when it will host a spring season warm-up event.

So far this fall, the Crimson has had to deal with the loss of graduated Andy Nguyen ’13 while incorporating three new freshmen into the lineup as it gears up for a run at a third straight Ancient Eight crown.

This weekend, Harvard showed that it has high hopes for matching, and surpassing last season’s heights. The tournament featured players from the Tribe, Penn State, and Monarchs. The invitational was divided into seven singles flights and three doubles flights.

On Sunday, the Crimson closed the tournament strong by going undefeated in both singles and doubles. In flight 1, Hu and Yeung took down the hosts, John Banks and Ben Hoogland, 8-6, to close out their undefeated weekend. Junior Christo Schultz and Beltrame won, 8-3, in flight 2, and co-captain Casey MacMaster and sophomore Conor Haughey came out on top in the third flight, 8-5.

In singles, Beltrame finished up his strong weekend with a 6-4, 6-5 win over Hoogland. Classmate Yeung blanked William and Mary’s Damon Niquet, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Andrew Ball and Schultz won in straight sets, and Steinroeder and Haughey both took three-set wins to cap the Crimson’s unbeaten day.

On Saturday, Harvard had some success in both singles and doubles.

In the first flight, MacMaster and Beltrame won, 8-6, and Yeung and Hu notched their second win of the weekend by the same score. In another first-flight match, MacMaster, playing with Steinroeder, lost in a tiebreak.

In second-flight action, Ball and Schultz lost, 8-6, to a Tribe team, but Schultz and Beltrame pulled out an 8-5 win over a Nittany Lion duo.

In singles, the Crimson notched a 4-3 record. Harvard picked up three wins in lower-flight action, with Yeung, Hu, and Haughey all prevailing. Chaudhuri beat Penn State’s Mike Reilly in Flight 2 singles, 6-4, 6-4. But Steinroeder and Ball lost in third and fourth singles, respectively, and Beltrame lost his only match of the weekend, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The team started off the tournament right on Friday by going 5-1 in doubles and 7-0 in singles. In first flight doubles, Hu and Yeung easily took down two different William and Mary duos. On court 2, MacMaster and Beltrame took an 8-6 win, and MacMaster and Steinroeder cruised, 8-1. Chaudhuri and Ball also won, 8-6, in third doubles. The only blemish on Harvard’s record was Schultz and Haughey’s 8-5 loss.

“I was glad to see Christo Schultz back in action coming off a shoulder injury most of the fall,” Harvard coach Dave Fish ’72 said. “Casey MacMaster played the role of doubles tutor this weekend, pairing with Steinroeder, Beltrame, and Haughey.”

In singles, the Crimson had players win in all seven flights. At the top, Chaudhuri outlasted the Tribe’s Aaron Chaffee, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Beltrame, Steinroeder, and Ball each won in straight sets. Hu cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 win, and Yeung and Haughey each won in three sets.

Harvard seems to be moving in the right direction as it now breaks for the winter in anticipation of the spring season.

The fact that two freshmen took home all-tournament honors indicates the Crimson’s strong position heading into the spring season.

“Our freshman are up and coming, and are beginning to step it up and learn a lot from our more veteran players,” Hu said. “Our doubles are also strong, and even though some of us are playing with different partners, our hard work with [assistant coach] Eric Butorac has really come through.”

The team believes that it has laid a solid foundation this fall to build on in the spring.

“Our goal was to compete well no matter how well we were playing, and I think we did a great job of that,” Steinroeder said. “We are all going to work hard over break, and are excited for the spring season to start.”

—Staff writer Justin C. Wong can be reached at justin.wong@thecrimson.com.