Men's Tennis Sweeps Trio of Non-conference Home Matches

It was a sweet homecoming for the Harvard men’s tennis team, which celebrated its first home match in a month this weekend by capturing victories in each of its three matches. In a doubleheader on Sunday, the Crimson scored two decisive wins, taking down Louisville (8-6), 4-3, in the morning and thrashing Boston University (4-2), 6-1, in the afternoon at the Murr Center.

On Saturday, Harvard opened up the weekend with a 4-3 victory over Indiana (6-7). The No. 23 Crimson’s victories this weekend improved the team’s record to 9-4 on the season as the team has won seven of its last eight matches.

“We were very happy to come away with three wins on the weekend,” sophomore Shaun Chaudhuri said. “It was a solid showing by everyone. It’s always a good weekend when we’re tested and are able to come through.”

HARVARD 6, BOSTON UNIVERSITY 1

On Sunday afternoon, Harvard was firmly in control against the Terriers despite sporting a different lineup than normal due to the weekend’s heavy workload.

In the early going, the Crimson cruised to the doubles point. The team of senior co-captain Andy Nguyen and freshman Nicky Hu, playing a spot up at No. 1, scored an 8-2 victory, and junior co-captain Casey MacMaster and freshman Kelvin Lam cruised, 8-0. Sophomore Alex Steinroeder and freshman Conor Haughey, playing on the third court, also took home a win, 8-5.

It came just as easy for Harvard in singles. Chaudhuri, playing at No. 1, beat the Terriers’ Josh Friedman 6-1, 6-0, and sophomore Henry Steer won by the same score. Junior Brandon Seaver, playing at No. 6, was the only Crimson player to go down, as freshmen Lam and Haughey, plus Andy Nguyen, all won to provide the final 6-1 score.

“Every day, at every position, we put ourselves in an opportunity to win,” Chaudhuri said. “On different days, different people will pull it out, which makes us a very tough team to beat.”

HARVARD 4, LOUISVILLE 3

On Sunday morning, Harvard continued its winning ways and knack for winning close matches by defeating the Cardinals, 4-3.

As has been the case in many of the team’s matches this season, the match swung on the doubles point. On the first court, MacMaster and sophomore Denis Nguyen beat Louisville’s top squad, 8-5. Although Andy Nguyen and Hu fell in a hard-fought 9-7 battle, Steinroeder and Lam made up for the defeat at No. 3, beating the Cardinals’ Austin Siegel and Michael Lippens, 9-7, for the doubles point.

In singles, Hu earned a straight-set victory at No. 5, but Steer fell on the sixth court and Andy Nguyen lost in straight sets to tie the match at 2-2.

Even though Denis Nguyen lost a three-setter at No. 1, sophomores Chaudhuri and Steinroeder came through for the Crimson. Steinroeder defeated Louisville’s Chris Simich, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, and Chaudhuri clinched the match for Harvard with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 2.

Steinroeder said the team’s experience helps give it confidence in close matches.

“We’ve all been in this situation before, and in close matches we trust our teammates to pull it out for us,” he said. “Our guys seem to just find a way to win. To have this mental edge when the matches are all so close really helps.”

HARVARD 4, INDIANA 3

In Saturday’s action, Steinroeder and Lam scored an 8-4 win to give the Crimson an early head start. But the Hoosiers would quickly fight back, taking down the first team of MacMaster and Denis Nguyen, 8-5. Hu and Andy Nguyen fought back from down a break to capture their match, 8-6, and secure the doubles point for Harvard.

Andy Nguyen also took control in singles, where he scored a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 4 to give the Crimson a 2-0 match lead. He is now 7-1 in dual matches on the fourth court this season.

But Indiana was ahead in other matches, and took straight-set victories over Chaudhuri at No. 2 and Steinroeder at No. 3 to even that match at 2-2. The match looked in doubt for the Crimson after Denis Nguyen dropped his second set, 1-6, but he came back to win the third set, 6-3. Hu, playing at No. 5, clinched the match for Harvard with a comeback 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.

—Staff writer Justin C. Wong can be reached at justinwong@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @justincwong94.