University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Harvard
Gophers Suffer 5-2 Setback at Harvard
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The No. 34 Minnesota men's tennis team dropped its second match in as many days Saturday, falling, 5-2, on the road against No. 25 Harvard. The loss dropped the Gophers' 2015 record to 7-3 with all three losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents away from home.
As it did in eight of its first nine matches, the Gophers earned a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point.
Matic Spec and Eric Frueh improved to 6-1 on the spring by opening with a 6-2 win at the No. 3 position. The Crimson answered by taking the top flight when 15th-ranked Denis Nguyen and Brian Yeung topped No. 52 Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment, but Leandro Toledo and Felix Corwin clinched the competition with a tiebreaker triumph over Sebastian Beltrame and Nicky Hu, 8-7 (7).
In singles, Harvard took a quick lead by winning at the Nos. 1 and 6 positions. No. 91 Nguyen defeated No. 25 Toledo, 6-2, 6-4, in the top spot and Yeung beat Froment, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 6. Ruben Weber knotted the match at two by upsetting No. 80-ranked Beltrame, 6-3, 7-6 (5), in the second position, but the Crimson closed out the match with three-straight singles victories.
The home team regained the lead when Alex Steinroeder handed Spec his first-career dual-match singles loss at No. 4--Spec is now 8-1. Kenny Tao sealed the team win with a tight, 7-5, 7-6 (6) win over Corwin. Hu topped Hamburg at No. 3 in a third-set tiebreaker to cap the match.
The Gophers resume their schedule next Saturday with matches against No. 8 North Carolina and The Citadel in Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 25 Harvard 5, No. 34 Minnesota 2
Beren Tennis Center (Cambridge, Mass.)
Singles competition
1. No. 91 Denis Nguyen (HARV) def. No. 25 Leandro Toledo (MINN) 6-2, 6-4
2. Ruben Weber (MINN) def. No. 80 Sebastian Beltrame (HARV) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3. Nicky Hu (HARV) def. Jack Hamburg (MINN) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8)
4. Alex Steinroeder (HARV) def. Matic Spec (MINN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
5. Kenny Tao (HARV) def. Felix Corwin (MINN) 7-5, 7-6 (6)
6. Brian Yeung (HARV) def. Mathieu Froment (MINN) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. No. 15 Denis Nguyen/Brian Yeung (HARV) def. No. 52 Mathieu Froment/Jack Hamburg (MINN) 7-5
2. Felix Corwin/Leandro Toledo (MINN) def. Sebastian Beltrame/Nicky Hu (HARV) 8-7 (7)
3. Matic Spec/Eric Frueh (MINN) def. Alex Steinroeder/Grant Solomon (HARV) 6-2
Match Notes
Minnesota 7-3 (1-0 Big Ten)
Harvard 8-2 (0-0 Ivy League)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,6,2,4,5,3)
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Players Mentioned
