EVANSTON, Ill. – In a match that came down to the final player, No. 30 Harvard men's tennis (4-2) could not overcome No. 26 Northwestern Sunday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center.

The Crimson rallied to earn the doubles point after dropping the first match. Senior captain Denis Nguyen and sophomore Brian Yeung bested Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer in the No. 1 spot to give the Crimson an early 1-0 lead.

Senior captain Alex Steinroeder defeated Mihir Kumar (6-1, 6-4) to put the Crimson ahead 2-0. Northwestern's Logan Staggs came back to come within one, but Nguyen bested Sam Shropshire in straight sets.

The Wildcats answered with wins at the No. 5 and 2 position, including a three-set match by Kirchheimer, ranked No. 108 in the country, over Nicky Hu. A tough battle from freshman Kenny Tao would fall short as Alp Horoz sealed the contest, 7-6 (7), 7-5.  

The Crimson host the ECAC Team Championships next weekend.

#26 Northwestern 4, #30 Harvard 3

Results

Singles

No. 1 – #57 Denis Nguyen (Harvard) def. Sam Shropshire (NU), 7-5, 6-1
No. 2 – #108 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. Nicky Hu (Harvard), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
No. 3 – Logan Staggs (NU) def. #86 Sebastian Beltrame (Harvard), 6-2, 7-6
No. 4 – Alex Steinroeder (Harvard ) def. Mihir Kumar (NU), 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 – Fedor Baev (NU) def. Brian Yeung (Harvard), 7-5, 6-3
No. 6 – Alp Horoz (NU) def. Kenny Tao (Harvard), 7-6 (7), 7-5 

Order of Finish: 4, 3, 1, 5, 2, 6*

Doubles

No. 1 – #7 Nguyen/Yeung (Harvard) def. Baev/Kirchheimer (NU), 7-5
No. 2 – Beltrame/Hu (Harvard) def. Shropshire/Pasareanu (NU), 7-5
No. 3 - Horoz/Kumar (NU) def. Steinroeder/Solomon (Harvard), 6-1 

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*