Harvard Men’s Tennis Falls to USF, Prepares for Ivy League Play

As the sun finally made its long-awaited appearance in Cambridge, the Harvard men’s tennis team (10-9) is ready to fight for an Ivy League crown. But, before taking on its conference rivals, the team fell 4-3 to the University of South Florida (6-13, 1-2 AAC) in the Sunshine State.

Opening up doubles action, the Crimson secured the point, winning on courts one and two. Senior Melchior Delloye and freshman Kolos Kincses rode to a dominant 6-1 victory, while sophomore James MacDonald and senior Masato Perera fell 6-3 on court three. In the point-deciding match, sophomore Benjamin Privara and freshman Nathan Blokhin secured a 6-4 set win, putting Harvard up 1-0.

Moving into singles action with the lead, the Crimson quickly slipped to a 1-3 deficit. Senior Marc Ktiri, Delloye, and sophomore Mitchell Lee all suffered straight-set losses on courts six, two, and five, respectively, putting Harvard in a near-insurmountable hole.

Accustomed to adversity, the team did not go down without a fight.

“I would say we’re very resilient,” Perera said.

Blokhin, who lost his first set 6-3, stormed back to win the second (6-2) and third (6-1) sets in dominating fashion, bringing the Crimson within one point of tying the match. Subsequently, Perera, who split his first two sets (6-4, 3-4), won his third set 6-4 on court four to even the match at 3-3.

However, on the show court, Privara ultimately fell 6-4 in his third set, sealing a tight 4-3 win for the Bulls.

Despite the up-and-down results this season has brought, the team remains confident as Ivy League play now approaches.

The injury bug has troubled the Crimson through 2026 thus far, Perera noted. Notably, junior Rohan Murali, ranked 84th nationally in singles play, didn’t play in the final non-conference match of the year. Still, the team has been able to rely on its younger members to fill these voids.

“In terms of the young guys, I love them a lot,” Perera said. “They have a lot of grit.”

As matches become more critical, they also move from being played indoors to outside.

“One of the big things about this trip is getting ready for hotter weather. We’re gonna start playing outdoors now,” Perera said.

“Most of our team has grown up playing outdoors. We have a lot of people from California with a lot of people from Florida,” the senior added. “It’s great for us.”

The Crimson returns to action this weekend when it opens up Ivy League play against No. 31 Princeton on Saturday at the Murr Center.

“Our goal is to win the Ivies this year. Obviously, there are other great teams in the Ivy League, so it won’t be easy in any way,” Perera said. “We’re definitely not the highest ranked team out there, but I think we have a really good shot.”

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at [email protected]