COLUMBIA, S.C. – Harvard men's tennis (1-2) recorded its first win of the season in dramatic fashion, upsetting No. 24 Michigan State (0-2) in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in South Carolina this evening. In the win, the Crimson recorded a total of four ranked wins across doubles and singles play.
The match began with the two teams trading doubles wins as the Spartans won on court two and
Kolos Kincses and
Rohan Murali recorded the first ranked victory of the day, defeating the No. 76 nationally ranked duo on court three.
Nathan Blokhin and
Benjamin Privara were locked in a back-and-forth battle on court one as they fought for the doubles point against the No. 14 ranked duo of Taym Alazmeh and Danial Rakhmatullayev (Michigan State). After the Spartans' duo forced a tiebreaker, the Crimson dominated, 7-2, to steal the match.
Although the Spartans tied the match with a win on court six, Murali quickly pulled Harvard back in front with a dominant straight-set win over No. 14 Ozan Baris (Michigan State). There was never a doubt in the match as the junior cruised to the win with two 6-2 set wins.
Michigan State again brought the match to an even score with a win at the No. 5 spot but it would be the final point of the day for the Spartans.
Masato Perera tallied the fourth ranked win of the day to pull the Crimson within a win of clinching. In another convincing decision, Perera dropped No. 103 David Saye in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Blokhin continued his undefeated start to the dual season as his comeback victory on court three sealed the match for the Crimson. After falling 6-3 in the first set to Taym Alazmeh (Michigan State), the first-year settled in and won the following two sets 6-4 and 6-2.
With the win, the Crimson improves to 6-1 all-time against the Spartans.
Results
Harvard – 4,
Michigan State – 2
Doubles
- Nathan Blokhin/Benjamin Privara (Harvard) def. No. 14 Taym Alazmeh/Danial Rakhmatullayev (Michigan State), 7-6 (2)
- Ozan Baris/Matthew Forbes (Michigan State) def. Masato Perera/Elisha Thornton (Harvard), 6-2
- Kolos Kincses/Rohan Murali (Harvard) def. No. 76 David Saye/Mitchell Sheldon (Michigan State), 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
- No. 109 Benjamin Privara (Harvard) vs. No. 3 Matthew Forbes (Michigan State), 7-6 (5), 3-6 DNF
- Rohan Murali (Harvard) def. No. 14 Ozan Baris (Michigan State), 6-2, 6-2
- Nathan Blokhin (Harvard) def. Taym Alazmeh (Michigan State), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
- Masato Perera (Harvard) def. No. 103 David Saye (Michigan State), 6-3, 6-3
- Danial Rakhmatullayev (Michigan State) def. Kolos Kincses (Harvard), 6-4, 6-1
- Mitchell Sheldon (Michigan State) def. Elisha Thornton (Harvard), 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 2, 5, 4, 3
Next Up
The Crimson will look to advance to its third ITA Indoor Nationals tomorrow as it faces Clemson at 1:00 p.m. ET in Columbia, S.C.
