Bruno wrapped up its fall season this weekend at the Harvard Halloween Invite. The Bears sent Justin To ’15.5, Eli Whittle ’17 and Thomas Nath ’16 to compete in the three-day tournament.
To took home the championship for Brown, winning the top flight.
The three players came out firing and swept their opening matches. To and Whittle both knocked off opponents from the United States Military Academy, while Nath, a member of The Herald’s editorial page board, picked up a win against a Crimson player in straight sets.
Day two of the tournament proved less successful, as both Nath and Whittle were eliminated from singles play. The duo also paired up for doubles but did not advance beyond the first round, after a narrow 8-6 loss to Harvard.
“It was a fine way to end the fall season,” Nath said. “It would have been nice to have made it further, but I’m happy with the way I played. We faced some quality teams there in Harvard, Dartmouth and Army. It felt good to get some last reps in before the winter.”
To, on the other hand, continued to plow through the field. He derailed Bryant University’s top player in the second round to earn himself a spot in the final against a Harvard foe. He won the match after just a set and a half of play, as his opponent was forced to retire. To finished the tournament as the A singles flight champion after his three victories in the invite.
“I’m really happy with the way I played,” To said.
With a tournament win the trio returned to Providence, where the rest of the team had been resting all weekend.
The fall tennis season has ended for the Bears, but the team has begun planning for the rest of the year.
“The spring season gets pretty intense, so we’re going to continue to stress fitness over the next couple months,” Nath said. “That’s one of our key attributes — we want every guy to out-hustle his opponent and have the stamina to compete at his highest level for an entire match.”
Aside from the overall team aspirations, individuals have their own goals for the break between fall and spring seasons.
“I’m definitely going to hit the weight room and try to keep getting stronger. I know I need to keep working on being more aggressive, and definitely work on my serve a lot,” Nath said.
“Everyone has their own ways of staying on top of their game,” To said. “We’ll hit with whoever is in our area back at home. We all come back early, before school starts, and train for a good week-and-a-half to two weeks before we have our first match of the new season.”
Despite the month the team will spend apart over winter break, players expressed optimism that everyone will be ready to compete at a high level and act as a complete team come spring.
We had some guys who were injured, but they’re all starting to look healthy,” Nath said. “Our two freshmen have been really solid and are motivating everyone to do well.”
“We have a lot of guys who played at a high level all fall,” To said. “We’re a really tight team, we’re really focused, and we’re all looking to make an impact when the spring season rolls around.”
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