DALLAS, TX – Harvard men's tennis concluded play at the 2024 Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge in Dallas, Texas by collecting 12 victories across doubles and singles action.
On day one,
Valdemar Pape and
Elisha Thornton each contributed individual victories over Cal opponents. Pape put up a dominant performance against Johnatan Irwanto (Cal) dropping him in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, while Thornton battled to a victories with a 10-7 third set tiebreaker result.
On Saturday, the Crimson were perfect in doubles action as the duos of Pape and
Masato Perera and
James MacDonald and Thornton each collected a pair of victories on the day.
Moving into singles action, the Crimson collected three wins through four matches, including Thornton and Pape defeating their opponents in straight sets.
To wrap up the tournament, the Crimson saw a final doubles win from Pape and Perera as they downed Nikolay Sysoev and Joan Torres Espinosa (Nebraska) with a strong, 6-3, result.
The Harvard pairing also went on to collect singles victories. With a 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 win over Vojtech Petr (Oklahoma), Pape completed a near perfect weekend, finishing 3-0 in individual action and 3-1 in doubles play.
Results
Friday, November 1
Doubles
Johnatan Irwanto/Timofey Stepanov (Cal) def.
Valdemar Pape/
Masato Perera (Harvard), 6-3
Bernie Munk Mesa/Ethan Schiffman (Cal) def.
James MacDonald/
Elisha Thornton (Harvard), 6-1
Singles
Timofey Stepanov (Cal) def.
Masato Perera (Harvard), 3-6, 6-2, 11-9
Valdemar Pape (Harvard) def. Johnatan Irwanto (Cal), 6-1, 6-3
Bernie Munk Mesa (Cal) def.
James MacDonald (Harvard), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 10-6
Elisha Thornton (Harvard) vs. Ethan Schiffman (Cal), 7-6 (4), 1-6, 10-7
Saturday, November 2
Doubles
Valdemar Pape/
Masato Perera (Harvard) def. Oskar Grzegorzewski/Danijal Muminovic (UTSA), 7-6 (3)
James MacDonald/
Elisha Thornton (Harvard) def. Santiago Flyckt/Sergey Haug (UTSA), 6-2
James MacDonald/
Elisha Thornton (Harvard) def. Calum Jestin/Will Pellegrini (Tulsa), 6-4
Valdemar Pape/
Masato Perera (Harvard) def. Michael Kouame/Moritz Kudernatsch (Memphis), 6-4
Singles
Elisha Thornton (Harvard) def. Sam Reeve (Memphis), 7-5, 7-6 (3)
Masato Perera (Harvard) def. Julian Alonso (TCU), 6-2, 5-7, 10-2
Valdemar Pape (Harvard) def. Filip Apltauer (TCU), 7-5, 6-3
Kaj Auirijns (TC) def.
James MacDonald (Harvard), 6-1, 6-1
Sunday, November 3
Doubles
Valdemar Pape/
Masato Perera (Harvard) def. Nikolay Sysoev/Joan Torres Espinosa (Nebraska), 6-3
Singles
Masato Perera (Harvard) def. Nikolay Sysoev (Nebraska), 4-6, 7-6, 10-4
Joan Torres Espinosa (Nebraska) def.
James MacDonald (Harvard), 2-6, 6-2, 10-2
Colson Wells (Nebraska) def.
Elisha Thornton (Harvard), 4-6, 6-4, 10-5
Valdemar Pape (Harvard) def. Vojtech Petr (Oklahoma), 3-6, 6-4, 11-9
Next Up
The Crimson will compete in a pair of tournaments next weekend, traveling to the ITA Division I Sectional Championships in Chapel Hill, NC while also hosting the Battle of Boston beginning Thursday, November 7.
