TUCSCON, AZ –­ No. 21 Harvard men's tennis opened its NCAA Championship campaign with a 4-0 sweep over No. 37 Washington on Friday afternoon in Tucson, Arizona.

The Crimson came out strong in doubles play, to claim 1-0 lead. On court one, the nation's No. 58 ranked duo of Daniel Milavsky and David Lins posted a 6-4 win. Harvard clinched the doubles point on court three, as Melchior Delloye and Valdemar Pape delivered a convincing 6-2 victory.
 
"It was a great team win today against a very good Big Ten team in Washington," said Andrew Rueb '95, the Scott Mead '77 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Tennis. "We started strong in doubles and just kept our foot on the gas pedal. Our guys who lost the first set all came back to win the second."
 
Harvard's momentum carried into singles play.  Daniel Milavsky set the tone with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over the No. 42 nationally ranked player, Cesar Bouchelaghem (Washington), at the top spot, extending Harvard's lead to 2-0.
 
Melchior Delloye followed with another straight set win, defeating Ivan Sodan (Washington), 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 5 spot.
 
The match was sealed by first-year, Mitchell Lee, who closed out a tight battle over Brett Pearson (Washington), 7-5, 6-4, sending the Crimson into the second round of the NCAA tournament.

"When we are competing with energy and focus at all six singles spots, we are tough to beat," continued Rueb after the victory.  The Crimson has now won four straight opening round matches in the NCAA Tournament while not dropping a single point in each.  Harvard will next look to punch its ticket to its third straight Sweet Sixteen.  

Results

Harvard – 4, Washington – 0
Doubles

1. No. 58 Daniel Milavsky/David Lins (Harvard) def. Cesar Bouchelaghem/Dzianis Zharyn (Washington) - 6-4
2. Benjamin Privara/Masato Perera (Harvard) vs Soham Purohit/Nedim Suko (Washington), 5-3 DNF
3. Melchior Delloye/Valdemar Pape (Harvard) def. Brett Pearson/Rohan Belday (Washington ), 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 3
 
Singles

1. No. 34 Daniel Milavsky (Harvard) def. No. 42 Cesar Bouchelaghem (Washington), 6-3, 6-2
2. No. 90 Benjamin Privara (Harvard) vs. No. 124 Dzianis Zharyn (Washington), 6-4, 0-6, 2-4 DNF
3. Rohan Murali (Harvard) vs. Soham Purohit (Washington), 3-6, 6-2 DNF
4. Valdemar Pape (Harvard) vs. Nedim Suko (Washington),  4-6, 6-2 DNF
5. Melchior Delloye (Harvard) def. Ivan Sodan (Washington),  6-4, 6-4
6. Mitchell Lee (Harvard) def. Brett Pearson (Washington),  7-5, 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 5, 6
 

Next Up

The Crimson will take on No. 10 Arizona tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. MST/4:00 p.m. ET in Tucson, AZ as it looks to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen.