PRINCETON, N.J. – Harvard men's tennis (6-5) dropped a heartbreaker to Penn (6-1), 4-3, this afternoon in the opening round of the ECAC Championships in Princeton.

The Crimson started on the right foot by capturing its sixth-consecutive doubles point.  After falling on the top court, Kolos Kincses and Rohan Murali gave Harvard its first win of the day with a 6-2 victory at the No. 2 spot.  James MacDonald and Masato Perera then remained perfect on the year and clinched the doubles point by defeating Parashar Bharadwaj and Matt Rutter, 6-4.

Penn got on the board quickly in singles, however, recording two straight-set wins on court one and three to take the lead.  Perera tied the match with his second win of the night, defeating Justin Chung (Penn), 6-2, 6-3 on court four.

After Rutter (Penn) retired on court five, the Crimson were back in front, 3-2.  Mitchell Lee was up 7-5, 1-0 before the match was suspended. 

It would be the final point of the day for the Crimson as Penn was victorious in the final two outstanding matches at the No. 2 and 6 spots. 

Results

Harvard – 3, Penn – 4
Doubles

1. No. 4 Manfredi Graziani/Aaron Sandler (Penn) def. Benjamin Privara/Nathan Blokhin (Harvard), 6-3
2. Kolos Kincses/Rohan Murali (Harvard) def. No. 87 Shaurya Bharadwaj/Nojtech Vales (Penn), 6-2
3. Masato Perera/James MacDonald (Harvard) def. Parashar Bharadwaj/Matt Rutter (Penn), 6-4 

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles

1. No. 46 Manfredi Graziani (Penn) def. Benjamin Privara (Harvard), 6-1, 6-3
2. Luka Butera (Penn) def. No. 34 Rohan Murali (Harvard), 6-3, 6-4
3. No. 70 Shaurya Bharadwaj (Penn) def. No. 27 Nathan Blokhin (Harvard), 6-4, 6-2
4. Masato Perera (Harvard) def. Justin Chung (Penn), 6-2, 6-3
5. Mitchell Lee (Harvard) def. Matt Rutter (Penn), 7-5, 1-0 ret.
6. Vojtech Vales (Penn) def. Marc Ktiri (Harvard), 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 

Order of finish: 1, 3, 4, 5, 2, 6

Next Up

Harvard will face Dartmouth at 12:00 p.m. ET tomorrow in Princeton, N.J.