College Tennis News - Ivy Title Within Reach For No. 22 Men's Tennis With Matches Against Brown, Yale

Andy Nguyen has helped Harvard to a perfect 4-0 conference mark.

The Particulars- In its final home match of the season, the Harvard men's tennis team looks to push its Ivy League record to a perfect 5-0 against conference foe Brown Friday. Harvard will then take on Yale in New Haven, Conn.. Sunday.

Series History

Harvard has been dominant in the all-time series with Brown, entering today's match with a 75-7 all-time record. The teams first played in 1929 and Brown did not collect its first victory over the Crimson until 1988. Harvard has claimed eight of the last nine matches, including a pair of wins last season.

Harvard also leads the all-time series against the Bulldogs, holding a 65-26 record in 91 career meetings. The series started in 1925 when the Bulldogs knocked off the Crimson, 5-4, but Harvard went on to take 10 of the next 11 matches. The Crimson is currently riding a 13-match winning streak against Yale, the longest of the series, and have not lost to the Elis since 2002. Earlier this season, the Crimson took down Yale, 4-2, to kick off the ECAC Division I Indoor Team Championships.

Last Time Out

Harvard gutted out two victories on the road to up its Ivy mark to 4-0, taking down Princeton Saturday and Penn Sunday.

The Tigers and Crimson both entered Saturday's showdown with perfect league records, but after a dramatic doubles point went to Harvard, the Crimson secured four singles victories to grab the 5-2 win. The No. 1 doubles team of Casey MacMaster and Denis Nguyen earned the only break of the match at 7-7 and held serve to secure the doubles point on a 9-7 victory. Nicky Hu captured the deciding point in singles action, earning a 7-5, 7-5 victory on the fifth court. Shaun Chaudhuri, Alex Steinroeder and Andy Nguyen were the other singles winners.

Penn proved to be Harvard's toughest competition of the Ivy slate, with the Crimson edging the Quakers, 4-3, Sunday. The top doubles team once again came through for the Crimson as MacMaster and Denis Nguyen fended off multiple match points and served well in the tiebreaker for a 9-8 (3) win to clinch the doubles point. In one of three, three-set matches on the day, Chaudhuri secured the deciding fourth point with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win at second singles.

About The Crimson

Harvard sits atop the Ivy League standings with a perfect 4-0 conference record and controls its own destinty in terms of capturing the conference title. The win over the Quakers was Harvard's 11th straight victory, with five of those wins being 4-3 finals. Harvard has collected the doubles point in all 11 of those wins.

The Harvard doubles teams have found their rhythm as all three regular pairs boast winning records in dual play. The No. 1 tandem of Denis Nguyen and Casey MacMaster is ranked No. 52 in the latest ITA rankings and is 10-1 in dual matches this season. Andy Nguyen and Nicky Hu are 8-4 at No. 2, while Alex Steinroeder and Kelvin Lam are 7-1 in eight matches as the third doubles team.

Co-captain Andy Nguyen continues to be a force in singles with a 12-2 record at No. 4 and unblemished records at the second and third slots as well. Hu has done well for the Crimson with an 8-7 dual singles mark, including a 7-5 record at his usual No. 5 position. Shaun Chaudhuri is 9-8 at second singles this year and Steinroeder has eight singles victories to his credit this spring. Harvard is a combined 59-45 this season in singles play and an impressive 36-15 in dual doubles action.

Scouting The Bears

Brown boasts a solid 12-9 overall record but three-straight league losses (Princeton, Columbia and Cornell) have it towards the bottom of the Ancient Eight standings. Brown's one league win came at home against Penn April 6 in its Ivy opener.

Junior Sam Fife has been a stong presence for the Bears of late, capturing victories in two of the last three Ivy matches at the fourth singles position. Michael Riechmann is Brown's No. 1 singles player, and has successfully teamed with Fife at the No. 3 doubles position. No. 2 Michael Hill is 2-1 in three Ivy singles contests this spring.

Scouting The Bulldogs

Yale boasts a strong overall record at 16-5, but league losses to Princeton and Columbia have the Bulldogs at 2-2 heading into the weekend. Yale will meet Dartmouth Friday before squaring off against the Crimson Sunday.

Senior John Huang is playing some of his best tennis of the season of late, bringing a three-match winning streak into the Dartmouth showdown. Marc Powers has yet to lose a home singles match this season, as has Martin Svenning, as the two normally play in the No. 2 through No. 4 positions. Powers teams with Daniel Hoffman to form Yale's top doubles team which has captured wins in two of its last three matches.

Up Next

The Crimson looks to seal the Ivy League title as it wraps up the season with a road match against Dartmouth (April 27).