Both wore into their third sets with palpable tension, but Kumar ultimately fell 7-6, 1-6, 3-6, giving the Lions the fourth point and the dual-match win.

Nguyen ended the day with an exhausting 5-7, 6-4, 4-6 defeat.

HARVARD 5, CORNELL 2

“We came out a little flat,” sophomore Scott Denenberg said of his squad’s doubles efforts Friday against the Big Red (9-8, 1-2).

He and Dhaka had dropped the third match 9-7, and though Chu and Kumar battled back from a 6-3 deficit to win in the top match in a tiebreak, Chiu and Nguyen fell 8-6.

“We dropped the point,” Chu said, “but we just came out preparing for a fight in singles.”

Harvard took the top five individual contests—three in three-setters—en route to a 5-2 victory to open its Ivy season and overcome, at least for a day, its shaky doubles performances.

Noteworthy were the showings of Kumar and Nguyen, who each notched the first Ivy victories of their young collegiate careers—though the next day’s competition would not prove so friendly.

“It’s a different team,” Chiu said, “so you can’t really hope that streak continues with a new team.”

While last year’s singles roster could potentially feature five now-graduated seniors, Harvard’s top half now boasts two rookies. And Chu, the only mainstay from last year’s singles lineup, still battles the abdominal injury that sidelined him, for the most part, over spring break.

It might not have been the best way to open the Ivy season, but should the Crimson win its last five league matches, the team could still be in the running for the Ivy title—and, more importantly, the NCAA berth that accompanies it.

And so, when asked about his injury, Chu only laughed.

“I can’t not play right now,” he said simply.

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.