The youngest members of the men's tennis team had a chance to shine over the weekend when they competed at the Big Green Invitational, hosted by Dartmouth. Kendrick Au '11, Charlie Posner '11 and Cody Simmons '10 played impressive matches to make the Bears proud in their final tournament of the fall season.
"All three of these guys have really been working hard this past month," said Head Coach Jay Harris, adding that though the three had not competed since the Northeast Intercollegiate in September, they "all played really well at times."
Au advanced the farthest in the tournament, reaching the semifinals of the A singles flight. In the first two rounds, which took place on Saturday, Au defeated Dartmouth's Stephen Greif by a score of 6-3, 7-6 in the first round. He then battled through a 6-4, 7-6, 10-7 second-round victory, prevailing in a 10-point super-breaker after splitting the first two sets to reach the quarterfinals.
"Kendrick played an awesome tournament," Harris said. "This past month, he really worked on his serve and return, and he ended up with good results."
The next day, Au took a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Harvard's Alexei Chijoff-Evans to advance to the semifinals.
"I think I played the best I've played all fall," Au said. "I've made a lot of improvements, and my work has paid off. I was definitely proud."
Although Au lost his semifinal match 6-2, 6-4 to Dartmouth's Mark Brodie, the eventual winner of the flight, Harris was pleased with how Au performed.
"Even that match (against Brodie) showed how (Au) has really developed," Harris said. "It was really great to see."
Posner, also competing in the A singles flight, fell to Marist College's Nicolas Pisecky in the first round, but not without putting up a fight. Posner overpowered Pisecky 6-1 in the first set, and according to Harris, "He played so well he almost surprised himself."
Posner then dropped the second set 6-2, but he fought hard in the third set super-breaker, losing by a 10-7 margin.
Meanwhile, in the B singles flight, Simmons fell to Dartmouth's Robbie Lim 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday.
According to Au, the tournament was a positive experience in his transition to collegiate tennis, which he said was not an easy adjustment to make.
"The margin for error in college tennis is very small," he said. "You really have to focus on every point."
Au said he has had to overcome his nerves, especially because before coming to Brown, he had not played much on the junior circuit, either.
"I hadn't played a lot of tournaments, so I was definitely nervous," he said. "But once you step onto the court, it's just you playing against someone else. After I started winning, I loosened up."
The Bears will not compete again until the end of January, and they look forward to the extra time off for making individual improvements and recovering from injuries. Harris called the break "an important time" for focusing less on tennis skills and more on conditioning.
When the Bears return to the courts for the spring season, they will eye their third Ivy League Championship in four years.
