Of course, the doubles lineup was also atypical. Chu, in the absence of his partner Lingman, teamed up with sophomore Brandon Chiu, who normally plays with Riddell. The pair won 9-8 (5) after playing down a match point.
“The [Columbia] guys were quite talented,” Chiu said, “but we were able to win some of the bigger points near the end.”
Beren and Turner joined forces as the second duo but fell 8-5, and Chiou and Li—who played together in seven matches this season and 17 this year—reunited for a 9-8 (6) win after the Lions served for the match twice.
“I think the team did a really good job,” Fish said. “[The players] showed a lot of character to go through that emotionally and be able to come out as strong as they did.”
HARVARD 6, CORNELL 1
On Friday, the Crimson had been without either of its veteran co-captains. That night, however, Lingman flew back, just in time to rejoin his team for Saturday’s match against the Big Red (13-5, 2-1 Ivy). This demonstration of leadership and dedication did, of course, lead to more lineup changes.
Lingman won the second match 6-2, 6-3, and Li, now playing third, won 6-4, 6-1. Chiou won in the fourth slot 7-6 (4), 6-2, Turner in the fifth 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, and Valkin in the sixth 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Chu suffered the only singles loss, dropping the top match to the Cornell’s Zach Gallin 6-4, 6-0.
Harvard again took the doubles point, though this time Lingman played with Chiou—they won 8-5—while Turner and Beren fell 8-5, and Chu and Chiu won 8-3.
The last duo actually played together—and won the doubles title—in Harvard’s February Men’s Open, and as Lingman will soon graduate, the Chu/Chiu pairing could carry over into next year’s seasons.
“[The Open] helped our chemistry together,” Chiu said, “but we’re both very comfortable playing with each other [anyway].”
Harvard left New York with a perfect 2-0 Ivy League record, a mark which places it in a tie with Princeton for the league lead—for now.
More important than the individual victories themselves, though, was the fact that they were, according to Fish, “team victories.”
Lingman, Valkin and Chu, all playing despite an understandable reason not to, gave their team a tremendous boost.
“It was really good to see [Jonathan] out here,” Chiou said, when asked about Chu playing in the top spot. “We definitely could not have been without him this weekend. He’s been going through some tough times, too, so that [dedication] is what we’ve come to expect of him now. He’s been a rock for us.”
And Chiou himself won all four of his matches over the weekend, going a perfect 4-for-4 in tiebreaks—even though he had initially planned to remain in Cambridge and prepare for next week’s MCAT exams. As the Harvard lineup stretched thinner and thinner, though, his attendance became necessary.
“I’m glad I went,” Chiou insisted with characteristic Crimson allegiance. “I got some work done—a little bit of work done,” he quickly corrected himself with a laugh.