Doehler, Z. Wang Win Convincingly; Andrienko, Svenning Force Three-Set Matches as Elis Fall 5-2
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Yale men's tennis team opened its weekend on Friday with a long-awaited rivalry clash with nationally ranked Harvard. Playing away from home at the Crimson's Murr Center, the Bulldogs came into the match as significant underdogs; Harvard had built up impressive momentum with wins over Penn and No. 46 Princeton the previous weekend. So although Friday evening saw Harvard emerge with a 5-2 victory, the final score line does not truly capture Yale's fierce, highl-level play on the day. Indeed, in a match that was ultimately decided by a three-set battle between Fedor Andrienko and Harvard's Sebastian Beltrame, just a handful of points might have changed the outcome of this year's rivalry match.
The Crimson caught the Elis off guard with a fast start in doubles. The doubles match at No. 1 doubles finished first, with Harvard's Nicky Hu and Brian Yeung (ranked No. 48 in the nation) proving too strong in a 6-2 win. Despite digging themselves an early hole, the Bulldogs nearly stormed back in the remaining two matches. At No. 2 doubles, Yale's Photos Photiades and Martin Svenning leveled the score at 5-5 before dropping the next two games to Harvard's Beltrame and Thirouin; and in the No. 3 position, Jason Brown and Alex Hagermoser halted their match with the two sides neck-and-neck at 4-5.
After a narrowly decided doubles round, Harvard pulled away decisively in singles. At No. 6 singles, Yale freshman Dennis Wang fell first in straight sets to Harvard's Jean Thirouin; Hagermoser finished next in a 6-3, 7-6 (4) loss to Kelvin Lam. Considering Lam headed into Friday's match with an 11-6 dual record for the Crimson, Hagermoser did quite well to force a tiebreaker in the second set. The match was ultimately decided, however, when Yale's Fedor Andrienko relinquished a one-set lead to Harvard's Beltrame at No. 2 singles, dropping the next to sets to fall 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. This narrow result proved yet again that Andrienko, who has excelled for the Bulldogs in 2016 with a 12-6 singles record, belongs in the conversation with the Ivy League's top players.
Yale's top two performers on Friday were sophomores Stefan Doehler and Ziqi Wang, who both needed to win tiebreaks to earn points for the Elis. In the No. 1 position, Wang edged Harvard's Nicky Hu 7-6(5), 6-4; this result may be the Bulldog's best result to date, as Hu has recorded multiple victories over nationally ranked players this season. Doehler also won by a similar margin, notching his fifth straight victory over an Ivy opponent in a 6-4, 7-6(3) performance over Harvard's Christopher Morrow. Rounding out the day's matches was Yale's Svenning, who fell just short in a 10-7 third-set super tiebreak to Harvard's Andy Zhou; regardless of the final result, the senior conducted himself well in his final Harvard match.
Although the Elis fell short of winning The Game this season, they can take solace in the fact that they competed so closely across the board with one of the nation's best teams. Friday's match also marked a significant success for the new Division I varsity college tennis format, which made a high-stakes match even more exciting. Yale will play its next match on Sunday against No. 36 Dartmouth; the ball is scheduled to drop at 1:00 p.m. on Yale's home courts.
Report by Cameron Ferguson '18, Yale Sports Publicity
DOUBLES
1. Hu/Brian Yeung (Harvard) def. Andrienko/Doehler (Yale), 6-2
2. Beltrame/Thirouin (Harvard) def. Photiades/Svenning (Yale), 7-5
3. Morrow/Zhou (Harvard) vs. J. Brown/Hagermoser (Yale) 5-4, DNF
SINGLES
1. Ziqi Wang (Yale) def. Nicky Hu (Harvard) 7-6 (5), 6-4
2. Sebastian Beltrame (Harvard) def. Fedor Andrienko (Yale), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Kelvin Lam (Harvard) def. Alex Hagermoser (Yale), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
4. Andy Zhou (Harvard) def. Martin Svenning (Yale), 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
5. Stefan Doehler (Yale) def. Christopher Morrow (Harvard) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
6. Jean Thirouin (Harvard) def. Dennis Wang (Yale) 6-2, 6-1
