Men's Tennis Finishes Third at ECAC Championships

After falling to No. 60 Cornell (3-6) in the semifinals of the ECAC Division I Indoor Championships, Harvard men’s tennis (8-4) returned to the courts on Sunday and claimed a decisive comeback victory over Penn (3-6) for third place overall. The Crimson also took down rival Yale (4-4) in the first round.

The team traveled to Philadelphia, PA., as the number one seed going into the ECAC Championships, and returned home with a 2-1 record for the weekend.

“A lot of times when we play teams we either see ourselves as underdogs or as favorites to win,” co-captain Nicky Hu said. “Sometimes you just need to get rid of that and go out and play whoever is on the other side of the court and play like there is nothing to lose…. That’s something we need to work on.”

PENN 5, HARVARD 2

In the final round of the ECAC Championships, the Crimson took on the University of Pennsylvania on the Quakers’ home turf.

The players did not let the team’s previous loss to Cornell hinder its performance.

“It was good to see how the guys today chose to bounce back with a strong lead early in doubles against Penn and then also a strong showing in singles as well.” Hu said.

Harvard took an early lead by winning the doubles point. Seniors Kelvin Lam and co-captain Conor Haughey eased past Penn senior Vim De Alwis and sophomore Blaine Willenborg, 6-3, and Harvard junior Sebastian Beltrame and sophomore Kenny Tao narrowly beat their Quaker opponents 7-6.

In the singles competition, Hu defeated Penn freshman Kyle Mautner in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, while freshman Andy Zhou overtook Penn freshman Dmitry Shatalin, 6-3, 6-2.

Adding to the singles’ momentum, Tao supplemented the lead with a three-set win, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, and Lam, with his 7th consecutive triumph, secured the 5-2 victory over Penn and a third-place showing overall.

“Personally I had made some adjustments from last weekend against Vandy and Memphis, and I thought I executed it really well this time around. Coaches asked me to focus on certain things, and I thought I made good first steps towards that.” Tao said.

CORNELL 4, HARVARD 1

On Saturday, the Crimson fell to Cornell by a 4-1 score in the semifinals with Lam posting the only point for Harvard of the day in a stand-alone singles match at sixth singles. Lam came back from an early deficit to take the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Lam and Haughey also claimed a doubles win, overtaking Cornell sophomore Karim Arem and freshman Karlo Lozic 6-3, but the victory was not enough for the doubles point.

Tao, who won his first set 6-3, almost bested Big Red junior Chris Vrabel at fourth singles. Vrabel came back, however, earning a point for Cornell by defeating Tao in the final two sets, 6-3, 7-5.

“Individually I can definitely work on closing matches out. I had a few match points against Chris Vrabel of Cornell, but wasn’t able to finish it off.” Tao said.

The semifinal upset was a hard loss for the Crimson, who took the ECAC title last year.

“It was tough to take that loss to Cornell,” Hu said, “But Cornell is a very good team and they have definitely improved a lot…. It’s always tough to lose to a conference rival but I am really proud [the team was] able to shake off the loss.”

HARVARD 4, YALE 1

Harvard’s first match of the weekend came against rival Yale on Friday, seeded eighth.

Hu and Yeung went undefeated in both doubles and singles. Together they defeated Bulldogs sophomores Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler 6-2 in doubles. Individually, they swept their Yale opponents in straight sets.

Beltrame and Tao clinched a victory at third doubles, and Lam’s 6-3, 6-1 win over Doehler in the singles competition secured Harvard’s lead.

With this victory, the Harvard men’s team ended the Bulldog’s four-match winning streak and advanced to the second round of the ECAC Championships.