The men's tennis team's Ivy League season got off to a dramatic start this weekend.
Brown beat Princeton 4-3 on Friday in a tight, down-to-the-wire match, before dropping the next match to Penn, 5-2, on Saturday to even its league record at 1-1.
The Bears, who won the Ivy title in 2005 and 2006 and just missed the sweep last year, have been increasingly desperate to make it another winning season.
"Going into our first Ivy match-up, our team knew that these matches were the reason why we practiced so hard, played such talented teams (at the beginning of the spring) and stayed disciplined throughout our schedule," wrote Kendrick Au '11 in an e-mail. "Now was our opportunity to put it all out there, proving how hard we actually worked. It came down to us having the attitude to know that we were prepared, that we could win."
And there wasn't a lack of attitude, as it was a grudge match for the Bears against the Tigers, whom they lost to in the fall, 6-1. This time, the Bears were ready.
"We lost to Princeton pretty badly in the fall," said Chris Lee '09. "Coach told us that to beat them now, we would have to play big, to go out at all spots and play at a high level, and that's exactly what we did."
Bruno didn't get to that high level at the start of the match. Rather, it was a slow and steady climb to the team's intensity peak as the Bears lost the doubles point, winning only one of the three matches. At No. 1 doubles, co-captain Saurabh Kohli '08 and Basu Ratnam '09 lost 8-5, followed by Sam Garland '09 and Noah Gardner '09 dropping their match, 8-6, at No. 2 doubles. The lone win came at No. 3 doubles, with the consistent pairing of Lee and Charlie Posner '11, in an 8-5 win.
"A key ingredient for a successful doubles team is chemistry between the partners," Lee said. "Charlie and I are able to get each other fired up and use that energy in a positive way, and turn it into a victory."
Heading into singles play, Lee continued to use that energy and transferred the momentum from his doubles win onto his singles court, which fired up the rest of the Bruno team. Lee was victorious at No. 3 singles, winning 6-2, 6-4, followed by Jonathan Pearlman '11 at No. 2, winning 6-4 in the first set before Princeton's Alex Krueger-Wyman retired after an injury to give the win to the Bears.
At No. 1 singles, Kohli fought valiantly in his last match against the Tigers but ultimately fell in three sets, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0, followed by another loss by Gardner at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-4. A last minute lineup change proved successful for the Bears, as Au came out with a "desperation" win that silenced his opponent quickly, 6-3, 6-0. Tied at 3-3, it came down to the final match at No. 5 singles, as Garland's 6-4, 6-3 win gave Bruno the victory.
"The team was the loudest I can remember during my match," Garland said. "That was extremely important and motivated each of us. When there is chatter between the courts, we always play our best, and this was a great example of how it pushed us over the edge to victory."
But the Bears came back to Earth in their next match against Penn. The team was plagued with a last minute lineup change in the doubles after Ratnam injured himself the day before. The Bears were unsuccessful in coping with change, as Gardner and Garland, at No. 1 doubles for the first time this season, fell quickly, 8-4. Kohli and Pearlman also lost, 8-4, at No. 2 doubles, and Lee and Posner lost 8-1 at No. 3.
"The team as a whole dropped a level when playing Penn, it wasn't our best effort," Au wrote. "I'm not sure if we played with the same desperation as we did the day before. We battled hard at certain times, but were unable to keep that high energy throughout the match."
The lack of energy became apparent in the singles matches, as No. 1 and 2 singles Kohli and Pearlman lost in straight sets. At No. 3 singles, Lee kept it close in the first set, winning 7-5, but he lost the second set tiebreaker and dropped the third set, 6-1.
Gardner followed Lee at No. 4 singles, winning the first set 6-1 before ultimately losing the next two sets, 6-1, 6-4. The two points of the day came at No. 5 and 6 singles, as Garland grabbed his win in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, followed by a tight scoring three-setter for Au, who pulled out the victory in a third set tiebreaker winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Breaking even this weekend doesn't take the Bears out of contention for the Ivy title, but it means they have to refocus and return to the Bruno game plan.
"Having not won a doubles point yet has been a big surprise," Garland said. "We've beat some of the best teams in the country. We have to get back to our roots of doubles domination in these next matches."
Total domination is what Bruno needs to find in order to take its play to the next level. The team has no time to waste as it takes on Cornell this Friday at 2 p.m. in the Pizzitola Center, followed by Columbia on Saturday at 2 p.m.
"Both of these opponents are very tough," Garland said. "This weekend will certainly determine the fate of the rest of our season."
