“Individually I can definitely work on closing matches out. I had a few match points against Chris Vrabel of Cornell, but wasn’t able to finish it off.” Tao said.
The semifinal upset was a hard loss for the Crimson, who took the ECAC title last year.
“It was tough to take that loss to Cornell,” Hu said, “But Cornell is a very good team and they have definitely improved a lot…. It’s always tough to lose to a conference rival but I am really proud [the team was] able to shake off the loss.”
HARVARD 4, YALE 1
Harvard’s first match of the weekend came against rival Yale on Friday, seeded eighth.
Hu and Yeung went undefeated in both doubles and singles. Together they defeated Bulldogs sophomores Fedor Andrienko and Stefan Doehler 6-2 in doubles. Individually, they swept their Yale opponents in straight sets.
Beltrame and Tao clinched a victory at third doubles, and Lam’s 6-3, 6-1 win over Doehler in the singles competition secured Harvard’s lead.
With this victory, the Harvard men’s team ended the Bulldog’s four-match winning streak and advanced to the second round of the ECAC Championships.