PHILADELPHIA, PA – Harvard men's tennis (8-3) completed its weekend at the ECAC Championships this evening by defeating Princeton (9-4), 4-2, to claim its 24^th title in program history.

"What a college tennis match," Andrew Rueb '95, The Scott Mead '77 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Tennis, said following the victory.  "So proud of this team to lose the doubles point and come back and win the singles against a really tough Princeton team.  The guys showed so much heart and smarts."

Despite another victory from Daniel Milavsky and David Lins at court two, the Crimson dropped a rare doubles point to fall behind 1-0 in the match. 

The Crimson set itself up for a comeback as it claimed four of six first sets in singles action.  Melchior Delloye battled through a 7-5 first set before blanking Ellis Short in the following set to even the match at one-all.  "Melchior had a breakout performance," said Rueb.  "His game hit another gear – winning eight games in a row from 5-5 in the first."

Masato Perera quickly followed to give the Crimson the lead with a 6-3, 6-1 performance at the No. 6 position.  Then, Milavsky recorded yet another ranked victory, dropping the No. 50 nationally ranked singles player, Top Nidunjianzan (Princeton), in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (5). 

"Danny got another win at the top spot and he is establishing himself as one of the best players in college tennis," Rueb continued.  "Masa led start to finish and is trusting his speed.  He won three matches on the weekend."

The Tigers recorded one more point with a victory on court two but a come from behind three set (3-6, 6-1, 6-3) win by Rohan Murali on court five would be the decisive match. 

"And Rohan got the clinch for the second time against Princeton.  A big shoutout to Valdemar who was up a break in the third and Benji for battling Princeton's All-American star in a nail bitter at No. 2," Rueb added.

The win marks the Crimson first ECAC title since 2022, its 24^th in program history, and its ninth straight victory over the Tigers. 

Results

Doubles

1. No. 52 Filippos Astreinidis/Paul Inchauspe (Princeton) def. No. 21 Benjamin Privara/Masato Perera (Harvard), 6-4
2. Daniel Milavsky/David Lins (Harvard) def. Top Nidunjianzan/Ellis Short (Princeton), 6-3
3. Landon Ardila/Aleksandar Mitric (Princeton) def. Melchior Delloye/Valdemar Pape (Harvard), 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles

1. No. 28 Daniel Milavsky (Harvard) def. No. 50 Top Nidunjianzan (Princeton), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
2. No. 20 Paul Inchauspe (Princeton) def. No. 86 Benjamin Privara (Harvard), 7-6 (8), 6-4
3. Valdemar Pape (Harvard) vs. Landon Ardila (Princeton), 6-4, 5-7, 3-1 DNF
4. Melchior Delloye (Harvard) def. Ellis Short (Princeton), 7-5, 6-0
5. Rohan Murali (Harvard) def. Evan Wen (Princeton), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
6. Masato Perera (Harvard) def. Aleksandar Mitric (Princeton), 6-3, 6-1

Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 2, 5

Next Up

Harvard will return to action this Friday, February 28 as it hosts the Memphis Tigers inside the Murr Center at 5:00 p.m. ET.