Sophomore Brandon Chiu teamed up with Jonathan Chu to win the doubles draw of the Harvard men's invitational this weekend.

Jack Li and the “Chu-Chiu” train (or was it the “Chu-Chiu-Chiou” train?) rolled right over the competition at the Murr Center this weekend. As the Harvard men’s tennis team (3-2, 0-0 Ivy) hosted the USTA Men’s Open Championships on the heels of two hard-earned Valentine’s victories, the squad relaxed and let its momentum carry them through an enjoyable weekend.

Li, a freshman, took the singles finals from his teammate and doubles partner Chris Chiou 7-6 (4), 6-3, and the top-seeded doubles duo of sophomore Brandon Chiu and Jonathan Chu won its final 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

As the weekend’s competition was not a dual-meet, however, the results had no bearing on the Crimson’s record. As a result, Harvard coach David Fish said, “It [was] a wonderful learning opportunity where a lot of people [were] having fun.”

Fish was right on two counts. First, the players were having a lot of fun. Mocking strains of “Let’s go, HBS! Let’s go, HBS!” echoed through the courts as the competitors (from different schools, of different ages and even enrolled in different branches of Harvard) teased each other.

Second, the emphasis was on learning, all right. Five of the Harvard players in the singles draw were freshmen, and only one of the youngsters, Li, has had any significant singles experience this season.

In fact, it was Li who stole the show in Saturday’s quarterfinals when he downed Chris Drake, the second-seed and former Brown captain. In his collegiate days, Drake had enjoyed success over the Crimson and specifically second-seeded junior Jonathan Chu.

“I knew it was going to be a really tough match,” Li said after felling the former Bear. “I’ve heard a bunch about [Drake] from the guys on the team. He beat [Chu] last year in the dual-matches, and I knew I was going to have my hands full today.”

With the most glaring of his matches behind him, Li cruised through the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win before facing Chiou in the finals.

While Li clearly held the upper hand over his partner-turned-opponent, the freshman continued a pattern of first-set hiccups. Having secured a 4-1 lead, Li dropped his serve twice and allowed Chiou to take a 5-4 lead.

“It felt kind of weird playing my doubles partner because I always play with him,” Li said after his finals victory. “This time…I had to block all my thoughts out.

“When I was down 4-5 serving,” he added, “I felt like I had to step it up to another level, and I just had to be a little more intense. I was intense the whole time, but I had to be a little more committed with my shots and penetrate and come in and take his strength away.”

Indeed, first-set glitch aside, Li was dominant when he rushed the net, and his deep, powerful groundstrokes set up such approaches quite effectively. It was only when Li became hesitant—as he did when the score drew even—that he lost this aggressiveness.

“Jack’s interesting because he’s extremely talented,” Fish said, “and he’s faced with the same challenge that any junior player has when he gets into college: how to organize his game so as to make the most efficient use of his tools.”

Today’s victory was certainly a big step in the right direction, as the freshman seemed to be making smarter and smarter shots as the matches progressed. He began drawing his opponents wider and wider on the baseline, he tossed in a variety of angles and volleys, and his consistency under such pressure was marked.

“It’s always tough to play a good friend,” Chiou said after his defeat, “[but] he just played better today.”