FLUSHING, N.Y. – It was a busy day for the No. 27 Harvard men's tennis team as the Crimson took on St. John's and Alabama in a pair of dual matches Friday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Harvard blanked St. John's, 4-0, in an early afternoon match before falling to the Crimson Tide, 4-1, Friday evening. 

 

The Crimson kicked off the doubleheader in fine style, although St. John's posed a tough test in doubles play. The first doubles match went the way of the Red Storm, as Mark Mozer and Michael-John Every edged Conor Haughey and Shaun Chaudhuri, 8-6, in the third position. The top two Harvard teams knew they had to rally to claim the first point of the match, and both courts went to tiebreakers. The top pair of Denis Nguyen and Alex Steinroeder was the first to finish, clinching a 9-8 match win with a 7-5 tiebreaker victory. It all came down to the tandem of rookie Nicky Hu and senior captain Andy Nguyen at No. 2, and the two were able to claim a 10-8 victory in the tiebreaker to swing the doubles point to the Crimson.

 

Chaudhuri, playing at his more familiar No. 2 singles position, put Harvard up 2-0 in the match with a swift, 6-0, 6-2, depositing of Valentin Mihai. Denis Nguyen wasn't far behind in the top singles slot, topping Vasko Mladenov, 6-3, 6-4, in the second straight-set victory of the day. While Steinroeder and Andy Nguyen saw their matches reach third sets, Kelvin Lam cleaned up a second-set tiebreaker, claiming a 6-1, 7-6 victory at fifth singles to seal the 4-0 win for the Crimson.  

 

It was another hotly contested doubles point in the nightcap, but the Crimson Tide proved to have the stronger doubles crew on the day. Denis Nguyen and Steinroeder fell, 8-5, in the No. 1 doubles slot to Alabama's Jarryd Botha and Becker O'Shaughnessey and Harvard's third team of Haughey and Lam dropped an 8-4 decision to Carlos Taborga and Phil Tsangarides.

 

Andy Nguyen was the lone singles winner for the Crimson, making short work of Phil Tsangarides at fourth singles with a 6-1, 6-2 score. Denis Nguyen lost in three sets to Alabama's top singles player Becker O'Shaughnessy 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, and Chaudhuri dropped a 7-6, 6-3 final at No. 2 to Jarryd Botha. Daniil Proskura wrapped up the match for the Tide with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Steinroeder at third singles.

 

Harvard gets one days rest and then is back at it when it hosts Old Dominion in a Sunday matchup. Play is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m., at the Murr Center Tennis Courts.

 

Harvard 4, St John's 0

 

Doubles

 

1. Denis Nguyen/Alex Steinroeder (HAR) def. Valentin Mihai/Mike Lampa (STJ) 9-8 (7-5)

2. Nicky Hu/Andy Nguyen (HAR) def. Vasko Mladenov/Hugo Morth (STJ) 9-8 (10-8)

3. Mark Mozer/Michael-John Every (STJ) def. Conor Haughey/Shaun Chaudhuri (HAR) 8-6

 

Singles's

 

1. Denis Nguyen (HAR) def. Vasko Mladenov (STJ) 6-3, 6-4

2. Shaun Chaudhuri (HAR) def. Valentin Mihai (STJ) 6-0, 6-2

3. Mike Lampa (STJ) vs. Alex Steinroeder (HAR) 7-6 (7-4), 4-3, dnf

4. Mark Mozer (STJ) vs. Andy Nguyen (HAR) 6-1, 5-7, 3-2, dnf

5. Kelvin Lam (HAR) def. Hugo Morth (STJ) 6-1, 7-6

6. Michael-John Every (STJ) vs. Conor Haughey (HAR) 7-6, 4-3, dnf

 

Alabama 4, Harvard 1

 

Doubles

 

1. Jarryd Botha/Becker O'Shaughnessey (ALA) def. Denis Nguyen/Alex Steinroeder (HAR) 8-5

2. Nicky Hu/Andy Nguyen (HAR) vs. Daniil Proskura/David Vieyra 6-5 (dnf)

3. Carlos Taborga/Phil Tsangarides (ALA) def. Conor Haughey/Kelvin Lam (HAR) 8-4

 

Singles

 

1. Becker O'Shaughnessey (ALA) def. Denis Nguyen (HAR) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6

2. Jarryd Botha (ALA) def. Shaun Chaudhuri (HAR) 7-6, 6-3

3. Daniil Proskura (ALA) def. Alex Steinroeder (HAR) 6-3, 6-3

4. Andy Nguyen (HAR) def. Phil Tsangarides (ALA) 6-1, 6-2

5. Kelvin Lam (HAR) vs, David Vieyra (ALA) 6-0, 2-2, dnf

6. Conor Haughey (HAR) vs. Carlos Taborga (ALA) 4-2, dnf