Men’s Tennis Begins Title Hunt, Heads to Empire State for Opening Ivy League Weekend

Pictured: Alistair Felton (left) and Andy Nguyen
Photo courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications.

The Particulars:
The Harvard men’s tennis team will take to the road for a pair of matches against Ancient Eight opponents. The Crimson will face Columbia, April 2, and Cornell, April 3, to kick off conference play.

Last Time Out:
Harvard dropped a tight 4-3 match to Binghamton, March 30, at the Murr Center Tennis Courts. The Crimson claimed the doubles point after winning all three doubles matches. The Bearcats managed to earn victories at the top four singles slots to clinch the match. Joshua Tchan picked up a win at the No. 5 position while Christo Schultz cruised to victory at the No. 6 spot.

About Harvard:
The Crimson heads into Ivy League tennis with a 9-8 overall record on the year. Harvard is lead by freshman Andy Nguyen with 17 singles wins. Alexei Chijoff-Evans and Christo Schultz have each compiled 13 wins on the season while Alistair Felton has posted 12. On the doubles side, Aba Omodele-Lucien and Schultz have teamed up to win 14 doubles matches at the top slot.

About Columbia:
The Lions sit atop the Ivy League standings with a 1-0 record in conference action and are 11-3 on the season. Columbia is riding an eight-match winning streak heading into the weekend. Haig Schneiderman paces the team with 11 wins in singles action. The Lions also have two doubles pairs with eight wins on the spring.

About Cornell:
The Big Red owns a 13-6 overall record and a 0-1 mark in the Ancient Eight. Andy Gauthier and Jonathan Fife share the team-lead in singles wins with 14 apiece. Jonathan Jaklitsch has picked up 12 wins in singles play this season. Jeremy Feldman and Gauthier have posted 12 doubles wins while the pair of Evan Bernstein and Fife and the duo of Mirza Klis and Jaklitsch have notched 11.

The Series:
Harvard has claimed victory over Columbia on 62 occasions, owning the series lead. The Lions earned a 4-3 win last season but the Crimson posted a victory over Columbia, Feb. 15, in the finals of the ECAC Championship.

Harvard holds the advantage in the all-time series with Cornell, winning 54 of the 61 meetings between the two teams. The Crimson has won the last three matches, picking up a 4-3 win last season over the Big Red.

Coming Attractions:
The Crimson returns home to face Princeton, April 9, and Penn, April 10. The contests are slated to be played at the Beren Tennis Center.