Men’s Tennis Team Manages Mixed Results in NCAA Individuals

Though the No. 21 Harvard men’s tennis team almost clawed its way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament team draw, its players managed only mixed results in the individual legs.

No. 36 David Lingman, a Crimson co-captain, finished his last match as a Harvard singles player—a 1-6, 6-7 first-round loss to Texas’s Antonio Ruiz.

“The guy David played got off to a very good start,” explained volunteer associate coach Phil Parrish, who added that Lingman switched from his typical baseline game to a serve-and-volley approach.

“It was nice to see that flexibility in his game,” Parrish said, “but [Ruiz] was just playing too big.”

Junior Jonathan Chu also lost in the first round of singles, falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to Florida’s Hamid Mirzadeh despite playing “really strong tennis at times,” according to Parrish.

“If it wasn’t for a couple of unlucky points here and there,” Chu said, “I’d be playing in the second round.”

But Chu will be playing in the second round of the doubles draw, as he and Lingman defeated a Vanderbilt duo 6-7, 6-3, 4-6.

All NCAA action has taken place at the University of Tulsa.