The men's tennis team has rarely been challenged by an opponent during the spring season and it went another weekend without facing a serious threat to knock it from the ranks of the nation's elite. The 60th-ranked Bears recorded two 7-0 victories on Friday, over the University of Rhode Island and Lafayette College to move to 13-3 on the year.
"Today was great," said co-captain Eric Thomas '07. "Everyone had a lot of energy, and the fans got everyone fired up. We were really able to play our game."
The Bears began their sweep of the Rams by easily winning the doubles point. At first doubles, co-captain Dan Hanegby '07 and Basu Ratnam '09 defeated Henrik Almstrom and Dixon Simmons by a score of 8-3. Saurabh Kohli '08 and Zack Pasanen '07 dismantled Andrew Costin and James McGuire 8-1 at second doubles to take the point. Joe Scott '08 and Noah Gardner '09 overpowered Adam Gart and Kyle Duffy 8-1 at third doubles to finish off the sweep.
"Joe Scott got his first doubles win in his career at Brown, which is great," said Head Coach Jay Harris.
In singles play, Hanegby was the only Bear to be challenged, winning the first singles match in three sets. He dropped the first set to Almstrom 4-6 and then bounced back to take the next two sets, 6-2, 6-3.
"It was a tough match," Hanegby said. "(Almstrom) was a big guy, and he had good serves. I had a tough time returning his serves."
In Brown's remaining five singles matches, no one gave up more than two games. Thomas dominated Costin 6-1, 6-1 at second singles, and Pasanen soundly defeated Simmons 6-0, 6-2 at third singles. In the fourth singles match, Kohli beat Gart by a score of 6-0, 6-0. Gardner and Scott rounded out the trouncing at fifth and sixth singles with wins of 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0 over McGuire and Stephen Conroy, respectively.
"We played a very efficient match," Pasanen said. "We came out and took care of what we needed to do."
The Bears made short work of the Leopards in the evening match. At first doubles, No. 30 Thomas and Ratnam routed Paul Guarino and Matt McGranaghan 8-1, and at second doubles, Hanegby and Chris Lee '09 also defeated Eric Wiley and Steven Benezra by a score of 8-1. Meanwhile, Gardner and Kohli overwhelmed Lee Kojanis and James Murphy 8-0 at third doubles.
Singles play proceeded just as smoothly, with the Bears winning all six matches in straight sets. Hanegby took a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Guarino at first singles, and Ratnam earned a 6-2, 7-6 win over Wiley at second singles. In the third singles match, Thomas trounced Kojanis 6-0, 6-0. Harris said he was pleased with the performance by Thomas, who has sustained several injuries this season.
"It's good to see (Thomas) back on track," Harris said.
At fourth singles, Pasanen continued the sweep, defeating Benezra by a score of 6-3, 6-2.
"I'm playing where I should be playing at this time in the season," Pasanen said. "There's still room for improvement. Hopefully, I'll keep improving and peak during the Ivy League season."
The Bears took two more wins at fifth and sixth singles. Gardner triumphed 6-4, 6-4 over McGranaghan, and Scott won 6-2, 6-2 against Murphy.
"We did a really good job today of coming out and putting our hard hats on," Harris said. "We put some really good work in. We were efficient, and at the same time, we played at a really strong level."
Brown will next compete in the Blue/Gray Invitational in Montgomery, Ala. The 16-team competition runs from March 15 to 18 and marks the beginning of the Bears' outdoor play.
"It's a totally different game outdoors," Hanegby said. "We have to get used to the weather and the wind. It's a much slower game."
According to Harris, the team will begin practicing outdoors this week in preparation for the Blue/Gray Invitational. "The number one thing is getting outside," he said. "It's a big jump from playing inside to playing outside."
