March 6, 2005

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-The Harvard men's tennis team improved to 7-3 with a 6-1 win over No. 60 Old Dominion Saturday evening at the Murr Center Courts. The loss dropped the Monarchs to 5-6 overall.

The No. 26 doubles team of Jonathan Chu and Ashwin Kumar knocked off No. 24 Izak van der Merwe and Nate Grover, 8-6, at No. 1 doubles. Jason Beren and Brandon Chiu defeated ODU's Eidy Igarashi and Rodrigo Souza, 8-6, at No. 2 doubles. Jordan Bohnen and Gideon Valkin completed the sweep with a 8-5 win over the Monarchs' Henrique Cancado and Juliano Cirimbelli at No. 3 doubles.

Gideon Valkin got things going with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Juliano Crimbelli at No. 6 singles. Shantau Dhako posted a 7-5, 6-0 win over Rodrigo Souza at No. 5 singles and Brandon Chiu defeated Adriano Mello, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 4 singles. Dan Nguyen won the first set in a breaker, 7-6 (3), and then closed out the match with a 6-3 second set win. Ashwin Kumar produced a hard fought 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Henrique Cancado at No. 2 singles. Old Dominion's only point of the match came via No. 21 Izak van der Merwe's 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 28 Jonathan Chu at No. 1 singles.

The Monarchs return to action at the Blue/Gray National Team Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama March 10-12.

Doubles: 1. No. 26 Jonathan Chu/ Ashwin Kumar (H) def. No. 24 Izak van der Merwe/Nate Grover (ODU), 8-6
2. Jason Beren/Brandon Chiu (H) def. Eidy Igarashi/Rodrigo Souza (ODU), 8-6
3. Jordan Bohnen/Gideon Valkin (H) def. Henrique Cancado/Juliano Cirimbelli (ODU), 8-5

Singles: 1. No. 21 Izak van der Merwe (ODU) def. No. 28 Jonathan Chu (H), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Ashwin Kumar (H) def. Henrique Cancado (ODU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
3. Dan Nguyen (H) def. Eidy Igarashi (ODU), 7-6 (3), 6-3
4. Brandon Chiu (H) def. Adriano Mello (ODU), 7-5, 6-4
5. Shantau Dhaka (H) def. Rodrigo Souza (ODU). 7-5, 6-0
6. Gideon Valkin (H) def. Juliano Crimbelli (ODU), 6-3, 6-1