Good things have come in twos recently for the Harvard men’s tennis team. On Sunday, the team lost just two matches en route to a 5-2 victory over rival Yale. That win earned the Crimson at least a share of its second consecutive Ivy League title. And a big reason that No. 22 Harvard (17-4, 5-0 Ivy) is in a position to repeat as outright conference champions is the play of its dynamic duos.

The Crimson’s consistently strong doubles play has been essential to its 12-match winning streak. It is no accident that Harvard’s 12 straight victories perfectly coincide with its taking the crucial doubles point in 12 consecutive matches. Each of the team’s three regular doubles teams boasts a winning record in dual play, and the top tandem of junior co-captain Casey MacMaster and sophomore Denis Nguyen is ranked 52nd nationally.

“All you have to do to realize the importance of doubles is imagine what the result of all of those matches would be if we hadn’t won the doubles point,” head coach Dave Fish said. “It probably makes the difference between being ranked where we are now and being ranked 50th to 60th. If two equal teams are good enough to split the singles, then the doubles is the tiebreaker.”

In the team’s 12-match winning streak, five have been decided by a 4-3 margin, including two conference wins. Without strong doubles play, Harvard may not be two wins away from completing a perfect Ancient Eight slate and fighting for a higher seed in the NCAA tournament.

The team believes that winning the doubles point also gives it a strong mental edge, according to freshman Nicky Hu, who teams with senior co-captain Andy Nguyen on the No. 2 court.

“Winning the doubles point gives us the biggest mental boost heading into the singles matches,” he said. “If we win it, we only have to win half of the singles matches as opposed to four. Plus, everyone is less pressured to win their matches and so they can go out and just focus on playing their game.”

A DIFFERENT GAME

Because of the strategic benefits gained from successful doubles play, the team has placed an emphasis on improving that facet of its game. Hu credits the work of assistant coach Eric Butorac, who has been ranked as highly as 17th in the world in doubles, with the progress the team has made.

“He’s devised an effective doubles warm-up for us that’s different from our singles one,” Hu explained. “It involves anything we would see in a doubles match—crosscourt shots, close volleys, and from all different spots.”

Doubles requires a different set of physical skills than does singles, and the best singles players do not always make the best doubles players. MacMaster does not always start in singles, but has consistently been at the top in doubles.

“Doubles takes a completely different player,” MacMaster explained. “Singles is more of a baseline game with rallying, and you have to win points with groundstrokes. With doubles, it’s your serve, your return, and quick hands at the net. As a tall player, I don’t hit groundstrokes often in singles. I usually serve and volley, and that’s a skill that translates to doubles really well.”

Not only does doubles require a different set of physical skills, but it also takes a different mental approach.

“Doubles is just a different mindset,” Andy Nguyen said. “Singles is a bit slower paced, whereas doubles is really quick and intense. In singles, you have to manage your energy more so than in doubles.”

PERFECT PAIRINGS

Given the importance of doubles, finding pairings that work is imperative. The goal is to match players who have complementary physical skills, but it is often an inexact science.