Chris Lee '09 made his 20th birthday one to remember by winning the doubles title at the men's tennis team's fall opener over the weekend. Lee and Basu Ratnam '09 defeated four doubles pairs at the Brown Invitational to clinch the championships at the Northeast Intercollegiate tournament for the second consecutive year.
"Everything has been perfect the past two years at this tournament on my birthday," said Lee, who is also ranked 50th nationally with Saurabh Kohli '08 in the preseason doubles rankings. "It's very exciting to win our home tournament, to defend our home courts. The crowd support was great, and it's awesome to have back-to-back wins."
The Bears' triumphant run began Friday with a first-round win over Boston College's Jason Sechrist and Erik Kreutzer, who Lee and Ratnam overpowered 8-1. Later that afternoon, the duo dominated Niagara University's Marc Dickinson and Roman Silin by a score of 8-4.
"The first time back in competition is always tough, and I didn't know if my back would give way any second," Lee said, referring to stress fractures in his lower back. "It's tough, especially at such a high level of competition, but we fought through that."
Lee and Ratnam headed to the semifinals the next morning, where they dominated Phil Stephens and Matt Gordon of Fairleigh Dickinson University, 6-3. In the afternoon finals, they took an 8-4 victory over Harvard's Michael Kalfayan and Tim Wu.
"For Chris and Basu to come back after injuries, and in the first tournament go out and win the doubles title, was awesome," said Head Coach Jay Harris. "It was really exciting to see them play at a really high level. They fought hard for each of their four wins."
Lee and Ratnam were not the only team successful in doubles play. In the second doubles flight, Jon Pearlman '11 and Charlie Posner '11 teamed up to take first place. After earning a narrow 8-7 (5) win over UConn's Joey Michaels and Christian Malerba in the first round, the Bears cruised to the finals with easy 8-3 and 6-3 victories over pairs from Bucknell and Hofstra universities. In the final match, Pearlman and Posner faced off against BC's Thomas Nolan and Brendon Wong, who they defeated 8-6.
"It was a great, great weekend for our freshmen," Harris said.
The newest Bears also performed impressively in singles play, where Pearlman advanced to the finals of the first flight, Posner made a semifinals run in the second flight, and Kendrick Au '11 won the third flight.
"I probably couldn't ask for a better start for those three guys," Harris said.
In his first-round match, Pearlman outlasted Villanova University's David Sheehan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. He then had dominating straight-set wins over Hofstra University's Luka Djordjevic and Niagara's Walter Garcia, before dropping a tight three-set match to first-seeded Stephens by a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Posner took his first-round match against Colgate University's John Nogueras 6-1, 6-3 and advanced the next day when University of Rhode Island's Henrik Almstrom retired at 1-5 in the first set. Posner lost the semifinal match to Gordon, the eventual winner, by a score of 6-2, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Au dismantled his first-round opponent 6-2, 6-1, then took a three-set win over Dickinson the next day. Au played his remaining two matches on Sunday, overpowering Bucknell University's Zach Hascoe 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals and defeating URI's Jared Dorfman 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 in the finals.
Lee was impressed by the freshmen's singles debuts. "The younger guys showed us a lot this weekend," he said. "They fought through aches and pains to prove themselves."
While their teammates battled opponents at home, Kohli and Skate Gorham '10 competed in the Virginia Invitational, hosted by the University of Virginia. In the first round of the blue singles flight, Kohli narrowly dropped a 6-4, 6-4 match to Harvard's Chris Clayton.
In the green singles flight, Gorham defeated Jason Morgenstern from No. 13-ranked Wake Forest University by a score of 6-1, 6-4, before falling to No. 17-ranked Duke University's Aaron Carpenter 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
"It was good to get out there," Gorham said. "I was happy to get my first win playing for Brown under my belt. I was focusing on playing more aggressively and playing my game, not being so defensive."
Overall, Harris said he was pleased by the Bears' performances both on and off the courts. "They showed the toughness we pride ourselves on," he said. "And afterwards, they didn't talk about the results. They talked about how hard they fought."
The Bears will compete next at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, starting Sept. 28 at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., the site of the U.S. Open. After a string of final and semifinal losses at this tournament, the Bears are eager to claim the ECAC title.
According to Harris, a less-stressful schedule this fall could make a positive difference. "Having the weekend off before the ECACs gives us the chance to get a little stronger and a little quicker," he said. "Our goal is to get healthy and fresh."
Another change this year is a new dynamic within the team. In addition to the three freshmen, the Bears welcomed walk-on Cody Simmons '10 and welcomed back Sam Garland '09, who returned after taking last year off.
"Six of our ten players didn't play last year, so it's a very different group," Harris said. "It's interesting because last year we had one leader, Dan (Hanegby '07). But this year, there are so many outspoken leaders. Many different guys have stepped up, even the freshmen, which is really great to see."
