harvardtennis
Harvard Men's Tennis Fall Highlights
Fall Recap
Contrary to the expectations of many, the loss of five starting seniors to
graduation didn’t seem to slow us down - our team’s results this fall has been
arguably quite special. To start the ball rolling, after two warm-up
tournaments at Harvard and UVA, the team captured the ECAC Championships at the
National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, with decisive wins over Penn (6-1),
Princeton (6-1), and Penn State (4-1), to earn another trip to the National Team
Indoor Championships in Chicago in February. The last two matches were far
closer than the box score suggests. In addition to our decisive one-two punch
at the top of the line-up, the team’s success was equally the result of some
outstanding performances by players with little or no Varsity starting
experience: freshman Ashwin Kumar (Dallas, Tx), sophomores Shantanu Dhaka
(Chelmsford, MA) and Gideon Valkin Johannesburg, SA), co-Captain Jason Beren (Dallas,
TX), and Brandon Chiu (Toronto, Canada).
The next week, Jonathan Chu leaped high into the national rankings by
reaching the quarter-finals of the All American Championships in Chattanooga, TN.
Chu and junior partner Brandon Chiu reached the quarter-finals of the co
nsolation round after losing to #1 seed Stanford 8-6 in the opening round.
Two weeks later, Harvard men’s tennis jumped over a higher bar, earning both
the winner and runners-up titles in both singles and doubles at the ITA Region
I Indoor Championships. While this is not the first time that Harvard
players have won both the singles and doubles event, it is the first time that we
had both the winners and finalists in both events.
Jonathan Chu, who had already qualified for the ITA National Indoor
Championships by reaching the quarter-finals of the All American Championships, elected
to play in the singles event since he and freshman Ashwin Kumar were already
competing in the doubles. As the #1 Seed Chu reached the finals. He was
severely tested along the way by Rod of Virginia Tech, the 2002 ITA Singles
Champion, whom he defeated in the quarters 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Senior Martin Wetzel (hailing from Germany), seeded #13, was the surprise of
the tournament, as he advanced to the finals also, with upsets of the #6, #3,
and #7 seeds. His semi-final win was impressive, as he defeated Krejci, a
graduate student at Stonybrook with one remaining year of eligibility. Krejci
had finished his Div. II career at BYU-Hawaii with a 78-2 record, and was 10-0
on the fall season at Stonybrook prior to the semi’s!
In reaching the finals, both players automatically earned a spot in the ITA
National Indoor Championships November 4-7 at the University of Michigan.
Chu, with his spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships already secured,
forfeited the final against his teammate Wetzel to save his body further wear and
tear, making Wetzel the official tournament winner.
An equally amazing success story for Harvard players unfolded in the doubles
tournament, as two of Harvard’s teams also reached the finals. Chu and
Kumar, seeded #7, reached the finals with two outstanding wins over Virginia Tech’s
top duo Stephen Rod and Puranen and Brown’s Shamasdin and Goldberg, winners
of the 2001 Regionals and finalists in the 2003. A newly-minted team of
Wetzel and senior co-Captain Jason Beren also turned heads, as they also advanced
to finals. En route, they took out the Princeton #1 team and the #1 seed from
Cornell.
In order to ensure making the flights to Boston (to see the Red Sox win!) the
next day after the singles semi’s and finals, both teams agreed to play the
finals ahead of schedule. With both Wetzel and Chu playing their fourth match
of the day, fatigue was a factor for both teams. Wetzel and Beren, in a
spirited performance, defeated Chu and Kumar 8-6. in this late night affair!
To finish up the season with a bang, Wetzel, Chu and Beren traveled to Ann
Arbor, MI for the ITA National Indoor Championships. Wetzel won his first
round match and gave # 5-8 seed Van der Merve of Old Dominion a run for his money
in a three-set loss.
The surprise of the tournament again was Beren-Wetzel, who upset the top
Baylor team to reach the semi-finals! Their Cinderella-story was interrupted in
the semi-finals, as they lost the hottest team in the country, Green and Wilson
from Ohio State. Green and Wilson went on to win the title, pushing their
winning streak in Fall National Championships to 8-0 (the same OSU team also
won the All Americans).
So, while this writing isn’t for the ages, the team’s results on court will
I trust more than make up for this small shortcoming!
Now…
Please also welcome our new Assistant Coach!
Now that Peter Mandeau has gone on to new challenges, you’ll be hearing from
me for a little while! Peter did so much for all of us during his nine
years, and we all wish him the best of luck in his new venture – PM Events. Peter
will remain in the area, and we expect to still see lots of him.
After a careful search, I hired Terry London as our Assistant Coach. I am
delighted to have Terry on board, and know that he will be a great addition to
our staff. He is highly regarded in professional and junior coaching
circles.
For the past 10 years he has coached and managed several top professional
tennis players including: Michael Russell (ATP #86 singles), Mark Merklein (ATP
#40 doubles, ATP #160 singles), Geoff Grant (ATP #106 singles, ATP #90
Doubles), Jill Craybas (WTA #49 singles), and Sarah Taylor (WTA #60 singles). Terry
has also contributed to the post-collegiate successes of several of former
Harvard players - James Blake, Thomas Blake, Mitty Arnold, and Todd Meringoff.
After becoming a Massachusetts state high school champion, top ranked New
England junior, and highly ranked national level player, tennis led Terry to the
University of Michigan. After graduating, Terry returned to Boston to coach
and manage fellow New Englander Geoff Grant and began a career traveling the
world which led to coaching Michael Russell’s French Open run in 2001 that ended
with a match point in the round of 16 against eventual champion Gustavo
Kuerten. Terry considers his relationships with his players and their achievements
to be his career highlights.
Please join me in welcoming Terry into the Harvard Tennis family.
We were also grateful for the help this fall of Nate Reinhart, who recently
completed his stint as our Volunteer Assistant Coach. Nate, a graduate of
Furman University in South Carolina and a Massachusetts native, has extensive
professional teaching experience and wanted to join us to work on his advanced
coaching skills. Nate added a great deal to our efforts.
David R. Fish
Head Coach of Men's Tennis
Harvard University Dept. of Athletics
c/o Murr Center
65 N. Harvard St.
Boston, MA 02163-1012
617 495-2695
Harvard Men's Tennis Fall Highlights
Fall Recap
Contrary to the expectations of many, the loss of five starting seniors to
graduation didn’t seem to slow us down - our team’s results this fall has been
arguably quite special. To start the ball rolling, after two warm-up
tournaments at Harvard and UVA, the team captured the ECAC Championships at the
National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, with decisive wins over Penn (6-1),
Princeton (6-1), and Penn State (4-1), to earn another trip to the National Team
Indoor Championships in Chicago in February. The last two matches were far
closer than the box score suggests. In addition to our decisive one-two punch
at the top of the line-up, the team’s success was equally the result of some
outstanding performances by players with little or no Varsity starting
experience: freshman Ashwin Kumar (Dallas, Tx), sophomores Shantanu Dhaka
(Chelmsford, MA) and Gideon Valkin Johannesburg, SA), co-Captain Jason Beren (Dallas,
TX), and Brandon Chiu (Toronto, Canada).
The next week, Jonathan Chu leaped high into the national rankings by
reaching the quarter-finals of the All American Championships in Chattanooga, TN.
Chu and junior partner Brandon Chiu reached the quarter-finals of the co
nsolation round after losing to #1 seed Stanford 8-6 in the opening round.
Two weeks later, Harvard men’s tennis jumped over a higher bar, earning both
the winner and runners-up titles in both singles and doubles at the ITA Region
I Indoor Championships. While this is not the first time that Harvard
players have won both the singles and doubles event, it is the first time that we
had both the winners and finalists in both events.
Jonathan Chu, who had already qualified for the ITA National Indoor
Championships by reaching the quarter-finals of the All American Championships, elected
to play in the singles event since he and freshman Ashwin Kumar were already
competing in the doubles. As the #1 Seed Chu reached the finals. He was
severely tested along the way by Rod of Virginia Tech, the 2002 ITA Singles
Champion, whom he defeated in the quarters 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Senior Martin Wetzel (hailing from Germany), seeded #13, was the surprise of
the tournament, as he advanced to the finals also, with upsets of the #6, #3,
and #7 seeds. His semi-final win was impressive, as he defeated Krejci, a
graduate student at Stonybrook with one remaining year of eligibility. Krejci
had finished his Div. II career at BYU-Hawaii with a 78-2 record, and was 10-0
on the fall season at Stonybrook prior to the semi’s!
In reaching the finals, both players automatically earned a spot in the ITA
National Indoor Championships November 4-7 at the University of Michigan.
Chu, with his spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships already secured,
forfeited the final against his teammate Wetzel to save his body further wear and
tear, making Wetzel the official tournament winner.
An equally amazing success story for Harvard players unfolded in the doubles
tournament, as two of Harvard’s teams also reached the finals. Chu and
Kumar, seeded #7, reached the finals with two outstanding wins over Virginia Tech’s
top duo Stephen Rod and Puranen and Brown’s Shamasdin and Goldberg, winners
of the 2001 Regionals and finalists in the 2003. A newly-minted team of
Wetzel and senior co-Captain Jason Beren also turned heads, as they also advanced
to finals. En route, they took out the Princeton #1 team and the #1 seed from
Cornell.
In order to ensure making the flights to Boston (to see the Red Sox win!) the
next day after the singles semi’s and finals, both teams agreed to play the
finals ahead of schedule. With both Wetzel and Chu playing their fourth match
of the day, fatigue was a factor for both teams. Wetzel and Beren, in a
spirited performance, defeated Chu and Kumar 8-6. in this late night affair!
To finish up the season with a bang, Wetzel, Chu and Beren traveled to Ann
Arbor, MI for the ITA National Indoor Championships. Wetzel won his first
round match and gave # 5-8 seed Van der Merve of Old Dominion a run for his money
in a three-set loss.
The surprise of the tournament again was Beren-Wetzel, who upset the top
Baylor team to reach the semi-finals! Their Cinderella-story was interrupted in
the semi-finals, as they lost the hottest team in the country, Green and Wilson
from Ohio State. Green and Wilson went on to win the title, pushing their
winning streak in Fall National Championships to 8-0 (the same OSU team also
won the All Americans).
So, while this writing isn’t for the ages, the team’s results on court will
I trust more than make up for this small shortcoming!
Now…
Please also welcome our new Assistant Coach!
Now that Peter Mandeau has gone on to new challenges, you’ll be hearing from
me for a little while! Peter did so much for all of us during his nine
years, and we all wish him the best of luck in his new venture – PM Events. Peter
will remain in the area, and we expect to still see lots of him.
After a careful search, I hired Terry London as our Assistant Coach. I am
delighted to have Terry on board, and know that he will be a great addition to
our staff. He is highly regarded in professional and junior coaching
circles.
For the past 10 years he has coached and managed several top professional
tennis players including: Michael Russell (ATP #86 singles), Mark Merklein (ATP
#40 doubles, ATP #160 singles), Geoff Grant (ATP #106 singles, ATP #90
Doubles), Jill Craybas (WTA #49 singles), and Sarah Taylor (WTA #60 singles). Terry
has also contributed to the post-collegiate successes of several of former
Harvard players - James Blake, Thomas Blake, Mitty Arnold, and Todd Meringoff.
After becoming a Massachusetts state high school champion, top ranked New
England junior, and highly ranked national level player, tennis led Terry to the
University of Michigan. After graduating, Terry returned to Boston to coach
and manage fellow New Englander Geoff Grant and began a career traveling the
world which led to coaching Michael Russell’s French Open run in 2001 that ended
with a match point in the round of 16 against eventual champion Gustavo
Kuerten. Terry considers his relationships with his players and their achievements
to be his career highlights.
Please join me in welcoming Terry into the Harvard Tennis family.
We were also grateful for the help this fall of Nate Reinhart, who recently
completed his stint as our Volunteer Assistant Coach. Nate, a graduate of
Furman University in South Carolina and a Massachusetts native, has extensive
professional teaching experience and wanted to join us to work on his advanced
coaching skills. Nate added a great deal to our efforts.
David R. Fish
Head Coach of Men's Tennis
Harvard University Dept. of Athletics
c/o Murr Center
65 N. Harvard St.
Boston, MA 02163-1012
617 495-2695