DURHAM, NC – Two top-25 matches yield the same, 4-3 result for the Crimson as No. 16 Harvard Men's Tennis powered past No. 20 Duke to start the 2023 season, 2-0. 

How It Happened

The Crimson began the day by grabbing the doubles point following wins from the pairings of Harris Walker/Henry von der Schulenburg and Steven Sun/Ronan Jachuck.
 
As the match moved into doubles play, the Crimson and Blue Devils traded wins in the next four matches completed.  Duke took the wins at the No. 6 and 3 positions but a pair of wins from Steven Sun and Henry von der Schulenburg brought Harvard to a 3-2 lead.  Both Sun and von der Schulenburg took care of their opponents in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4, 7-5, respectively. 
 
At the No. 4 position Daniel Milavsky cruised to a win in the first set (6-1) before falling in a tight second set (6-7 (5)).  Milavsky buckled down and won the third set (6-1) to clinch the win for the Crimson with one match outstanding. 

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Danny Milavsky with the clinching win to lift the Crimson to the win over No. 20 Duke!#GoCrimson | #OneCrimson pic.twitter.com/iKrrysaFoz

— Harvard Men's Tennis (@HarvardMTennis) January 22, 2023

Andrew Rueb '95, The Scott Mead '77 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Tennis, The James Herscot '58 Coach of Excellence, on the two weekend wins said, "Getting two wins on the road against two top-25 teams is a great way to start the season.  Both matches were decided by razor thin margins and credit to our guys for finding ways to win.  On Friday against the Wolfpack, Steven was able to close it out in tough conditions and, today, Danny got the win in the decider."

Harvard Highlights

• von der Schulenburg and Sun both went undefeated on the weekend and did not drop a set while doing so.  With his win today, Milavsky grabbed his first win of the spring season.
• Harvard went undefeated in doubles this weekend, getting wins from Walker/von der Schulenburg and Sun/Jachuck in both matches.
• With the win, von der Schulenburg downs his first ranked opponent of the season. 
• This was the 16^th matchup between the two schools, an all-time series in which the Crimson now lead 14-2.  This is the first time Harvard has beaten Duke since 1996. 

Results

Harvard – 4, Duke – 3
Doubles

1. Daniel Milavsky/Valdemar Pape vs. No. 49 Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang (Duke), 6-6
2. Harris Walker/Henry von der Schulenburg def. Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (Duke), 6-1
3. Steven Sun/Ronan Jachuck def. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (Duke), 7-6

 
Order of finish: 2, 3
 
Singles

1. No. 4 Garrett Johns (Duke) def. No. 46 Harris Walker, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
2. No. 22 Henry von der Schulenburg def. No. 101 Andrew Zhang (Duke), 6-4, 7-5
3. No. 84 Pedro Rodenas (Duke) def. Ronan Jachuck, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
4. Daniel Milavsky def. Connor Krug (Duke), 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1
5. Steven Sun def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (Duke), 6-3, 6-2
6. Faris Khan (Duke) def. Valdemar Pape, 6-1, 6-4

 
Order of finish: 6, 5, 2, 3, 4, 1

Next Up

The Crimson will return to North Carolina next weekend to compete in the ITA Kickoff Weekend hosted by University of North Carolina.  Harvard will face off against conference foe Columbia on January 28.  With a win, the Crimson will face either North Carolina or Oklahoma State with a chance to go to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.