Harvard men’s tennis defeated No. 33 Princeton, 4-3, in a match lasting more than four hours at the Murr Center on April 4.
The closely contested event saw Harvard rally from behind after losing the doubles point and five of six first sets in singles play. The win was significant for the Crimson as it came against a higher-ranked opponent and required several comeback performances.
Andrew Rueb, The Scott Mead ’77 Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Tennis, said, “That was the closest college tennis match that I’ve ever been a part of in nearly twenty years of coaching. No one deserved to lose that match.” Rueb also commented on his team’s perseverance: “For us to come back and win 4-3 after losing doubles and five first sets in singles (four of them in tiebreakers) was simply herculean. No one went away and kept grinding until we got over the finish line – nearly four hours later – with Benji’s clutch serve on match point.”
After falling behind early, Harvard’s Nathan Blokhin secured a victory by winning his second and third sets against Milan Markovits on court four. Mitchell Lee provided another key win for Harvard by taking his three-set contest against Jordan Reznik. Rohan Murali delivered an important result as well by defeating Paul Inchauspe—ranked seventh nationally—in three sets.
The deciding match came down to Benjamin Privara facing Fnu Nidunjianzan from Princeton on court two. Each set went to a tiebreaker before Privara clinched the victory with a final set score of 9-7.
Looking ahead, Rueb said, “And it is time to get back to work tomorrow. We have a quick turnaround against an excellent Penn team that beat us earlier in the season.” The Crimson will face Penn Quakers next.
