Harvard Hosts High Gamers within the Northeast for ITA Tremendous Regionals | Sports activities

Harvard competed with the most effective tennis gamers within the Northeast final weekend on the Intercollegiate Tennis Affiliation Tremendous Regionals, hosted on the Beren Tennis Middle. The Crimson represented 11 of the 32 gamers who certified for the final cease on the highway to the ITA Fall Nationals.

“To have 11 of the highest 32 [players] sporting crimson was fairly an honor,” mentioned head coach Andrew Rueb ‘95.

Senior captain Harris Walker, No. 39, was the No. 3 seed within the event and superior to the ultimate with out dropping a single set. Even when rain interrupted play and compelled the ultimate match indoors, Walker maintained the momentum and defeated Columbia’s Alex Kotzen, the highest seed within the event, 6-2, 7-5. Within the closing match, Columbia first-year Michael Zheng took the championship after a tricky three-set battle, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. Walker completed because the event’s runner-up and can compete within the ITA Fall Nationals in November.

Harvard noticed early upsets within the Spherical of 32. Regardless of a comeback within the second set, sophomore Daniel Milavsky, No. 7 seed within the event, was ousted by Yale’s Michael Solar 6-2, 7-6 (8-6). Sophomore Elisha Thornton additionally fell after a second-set tiebreaker to Aditya Gupta of the College of Pennsylvania, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). Within the first spherical of doubles, equally shut competitors made for thrilling matches. Only a few key factors saved the duo of Milavsky and junior Ronan Jachuk from victory; eventual champions JJ Bianchi and Max Motlagh of Boston School gained the match 8-4.

Within the Spherical of 16, the Crimson competed in a number of three-set matches. Junior Captain Henry von der Schulenburg, No. 18, was defeated by event finalist Westfal in an in depth battle, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Jachuk and freshman Melchoir Delloye additionally misplaced in three-set matches that day.

“I imply that is why you play,” mentioned Rueb of the tight competitors on the event. “The strain is a privilege, and also you get the honour of enjoying shut matches towards good competitors; that’s type of what you earn.”

Within the quarterfinals, the thrill continued, with simply two Harvard gamers remaining within the draw. First-year Marc Ktiri confronted off towards Columbia’s Michael Zheng, No. 3, and finally misplaced 6-2, 7-5. In the meantime, Walker handily defeated Dartmouth’s Hikaru Takeda, 6-4, 6-1.

Coach Rueb emphasised these shut competitions, and the autumn season typically, as key alternatives for progress. Group competitors begins in January, making the autumn a time for particular person gamers to hone their abilities.

“It’s a developmental time,” Rueb emphasised. “That is the time to make changes, make modifications in your recreation. It’s a must to have that developmental mindset now particularly.”

The Crimson closed out the Spring 2022 season at No. 14 after profitable the Ivy League Championships and struggling defeat to Stanford within the second spherical of the NCAA event. With new gamers added to the roster, the autumn poses a possibility to seek out new strengths.

“The groups that use the autumn properly are actually progressing and preparing for that all-important season that begins in January. It’s a constructing block, the autumn,” Rueb defined. “Clearly it’s an amazing honor for [Walker to advance to Fall Nationals], however the massive aim right here is to maintain enhancing, and stacking some nice practices on prime of one another so that you just’re making these enhancements.”

Harvard will host males’s and girls’s groups for the annual Crimson Halloween Invite this weekend, Oct. 28-Oct. 30.

— Employees author Caroline Gage could be reached at caroline.gage@thecrimson.com.