CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men’s tennis closed out ITA Kickoff competition this afternoon in the Murr Center by punching their ticket to the ITA Indoor National Championship in New York City, New York.  The Crimson looked dominant all day against Northwestern, ultimately downing the Wildcats 4-0. 

How it Happened

The Crimson opened up match play by taking the doubles point with relative ease.  Ronan Jachuck and Masato Perera grabbed the first win of the day with a 6-3 decision at the No. 2 position.  Daniel Milavsky and Cooper Williams finished the job at the No. 1 position with a strong 6-2 win over Gleb Blekher and Felix Nordby. 

Doubles domination??#GoCrimson x #OneCrimson pic.twitter.com/KJsVMi7Fj7

— Harvard Men’s Tennis (@HarvardMTennis) January 28, 2024

Moving into singles the Crimson continued to grow its momentum by winning the first set in all six matches.  Completing an undefeated weekend with his victory, Henry von der Schulenburg claimed the first singles win of the day, dropping Presley Thieneman in identical 6-2 sets. 
 
Even with five matches outstanding, the Crimson closed in on the win as each player held strong leads in each second set.  Finishing nearly simultaneously, Jachuck and Milavsky picked up wins three and four, respectively, to close out the match and secure the shutout.  The duo each did not drop more than four games in their straight set victories. 
 
As play suspended following the Crimson clinch, each of the remaining Harvard players had leads in the second set with at least four game wins.

Harvard Highlights

• Daniel Milavsky and Cooper Williams continue to lead the Crimson in doubles victories this season.  With their win tonight, the pair improves to 2-1 in dual action and 15-3 overall. 
• Each with singles wins today, Henry von der Schulenburg and Daniel Milavsky both completed an undefeated weekend.  Milavsky also added a doubles victory today to his weekend win total. 
• Playing all his singles matches at the No. 3 position, Milavsky has yet to drop a match in dual competition.  Now with a 4-0 spring record, the junior improves to 8-3 overall in 2023-24. 
• After dropping his first match up of the season last night, Ronan Jachuck had a strong bounce back against the Wildcats with his 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 4 spot. 
• With their win the Crimson clinch a spot in the ITA Indoor National Championship taking place in New York City, New York starting Friday, February 16.  This year will be Harvard’s first appearance at the ITA Indoor Nationals since 2005. 
• By dropping the Wildcats, the Crimson bring the all-time series to a tie and extend its win streak over Northwestern to four. 

Results

Harvard – 4, Northwestern – 0
Doubles

1. No. 5 Cooper Williams/Daniel Milavsky def. Gleb Blekher/Felix Nordby (Northwestern), 6-2
2. Ronan Jachuck/Masato Perera def. Greyson Casey/Presley Thieneman (Northwestern), 6-3
3. Alan Yim/Henry von der Schulenburg vs. Caldwell/Chad Miller (Northwestern), 5-4 DNF

Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles

1. No. 15 Cooper Williams vs. Gleb Blekher (Northwestern), 6-4, 4-3 DNF
2. Henry von der Schulenburg def. Presley Thieneman (Northwestern), 6-2, 6-2
3. Daniel Milavsky def. Saiprakash Goli (Northwestern), 6-2, 6-2
4. Ronan Jachuck def. Felix Nordby (Northwestern), 6-3, 6-1
5. Rohan Murali vs. Greyson Casey (Northwestern), 6-2, 5-4 DNF
6. Masato Perera vs. Chad Miller (Northwestern), 6-2, 4-2 DNF

Order of finish: 2, 4, 3

Next Up

The Crimson will remain home next weekend as it welcomes No. 14 Michigan and Boston University to Cambridge, Mass. for a doubleheader on Friday, February 2.