Over two and a half hours into Northwestern’s home matchup against No. 24 Harvard, coach Arvid Swan’s squad faced a tall task.
Play continued onto a third set in four matches, nearly all at once. The Wildcats (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten) found themselves in a 3-0 deficit and had to win each of the remaining singles matches for a team victory.
Although the ’Cats got off to a promising start with senior Felix Nordby and junior Chad Miller recording victories, the hosts fell 5-2 to the Crimson (4-3, 0-0 Ivy League) Friday night.
“We’re obviously disappointed,” Swan said. “We wanted to win that match, and I was proud of the group. The effort level was really outstanding. I think we’ve made a lot of improvements from our first weekend to now.”
Against Harvard, NU’s failure to capture the doubles point proved fatal. The No. 3 duo of freshmen Vincent Yang and Carter Pate dropped their set 6-3, leaving the ’Cats’ other teams needing wins.
At 3-4 on serve, the No. 2 pairing of graduate student Saiprakash Goli and Miller was broken, leading to a 6-3 loss. Nordby and sophomore Greyson Casey, NU’s No. 1 doubles slot, had their match unfinished at 5-5.
In the first set of singles competition, each player went up at least a break, except No. 1 Casey, who lost 6-1. Ultimately, No. 4 Pate and No. 5 senior Max Bengtsson lost their sets 6-4 and 7-6(3), respectively. Bengtsson originally held a 5-1 double-lead break.
Casey quickly lost 6-1, 6-1, and Pate dropped his match 6-4, 6-3, putting the Crimson up 3-0 in the match. Swan had high praise for Casey’s opponent, Daniel Milavsky.
“Nobody’s playing better tennis than Milavsky,” Swan said. “Honestly, I think he’s probably playing the best indoor tennis in the country, and it’s a level where he could win NCAAs in singles. That’s a learning curve for Greyson, to play a player like that.”
The other four matchups all went to third sets. Bengtsson won his second set 6-3, while No. 2 Nordby lost 13 consecutive points en route to a 7-5 loss. No. 3 Goli fell 6-1, and No. 6 Miller lost 6-4.
As Goli was already two games into his third set, Nordby, Bengtsson and Miller each awaited the start of theirs.
“There’s, of course, some sort of pressure,” Nordby said. “For me, I kind of like it because then I know I have to bring my A-game.”
Nordby quickly took control, winning the first seven points of his third set and breaking his opponent early.
Soon, the ’Cats appeared to have a chance.
Within just minutes, Goli broke his opponent back for 3-2 and soon held to even the match at 3-3, Miller went up a break at 2-1, 40-40, and Nordby held at 2-0, 40-40 to go up 3-0.
Nordby’s dominance continued for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 victory, and within three minutes, Miller notched a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 for NU’s two points of the day.
“(Their) competitive effort was outstanding,” Swan said. “You also look at the matches, and they both got up early in the third sets, so we’re able to kind of develop some momentum in those two matches.”
Swan said he places a particular emphasis on getting early breaks and beating their opponents to four games in the third set.
Spectators in Combe Tennis Center flocked toward courts 1 and 2 to see the conclusion of Goli and Bengtsson. At a point in both third sets, the scoreline read 5-5.
Goli’s opponent Valdemar Pape dominated Goli’s service game at 5-6 and forced a quadruple match point after a backhand inside-out return winner. Goli saved the first match point, but the next point, Goli’s crosscourt forehand landed out wide, giving Pape a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory and Harvard the match win.
Though an NU loss was already solidified, Bengtsson’s match played on. He was broken at 5-5, allowing for his opponent Melchior Delloye to serve out the match, which he successfully did, winning 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5 over Bengtsson.
Although the Crimson netted a 5-2 victory, Nordby seemed optimistic about his team’s performance against one of the nation’s top-ranked teams.
“I think you can take away a lot from this match today,” Nordby said. “Everybody was close, so it’s really understanding what we did well today. Everybody stayed aggressive, stayed in the matches and just believed we can win, and you can see that across the board.”
Two days later, the ’Cats took on No. 7 Duke in Durham, where they lost 4-0. The Blue Devils (6-0, 0-0 ACC) did not drop a set in the win.
NU employed the same doubles lineup as it did in Evanston but was quickly defeated for the match’s first point. At the No. 1 slot, Nordby and Casey lost 6-2, as did Goli and Miller at the No. 2 position.
The Blue Devils dominated singles play, allowing just one match where an NU player took more than five games in a set. No. 4 Pate lost 6-3, 6-1, followed by No. 1 Casey and No. 2 Goli, who each lost 6-1, 6-4. The remaining matches went unfinished.
The ’Cats are on the road next weekend to face Vanderbilt and Clemson on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
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