The Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals at Yale ended earlier than Dartmouth had hoped, as all Big Green players were eliminated after the third day of play Saturday afternoon in New Haven, Conn.
It was a sudden dose of reality for the Big Green, who had dominated the competition in their last tournament.
"I thought we had prepared pretty well, and we had big expectations," captain Ari Gayer '09 said. "But this is the ITA, [it has] a different caliber of players."
Gayer and doubles partner Curtis Roby '11, after winning their first round match, 8-4, over Lafayette College, took on Thomas Nolan and Erik Kreutzer, Boston College's number-one doubles team. It was a close match, but the Big Green fell in a tie-break, 8-9.
In the other doubles match-up, Dan Freeman '10 and Chris Ho '12 lost to the University of Pennsylvania's Adam Shwartz and Alex Vasin, 7-9.
All three Dartmouth players in the singles draw were seeded, and therefore received a bye in the first round. This may have done more bad than good, as they all had slow starts in their respective opening round matches.
Gayer said that the fact that their opponents had played the previous day certainly helped them start fast against Dartmouth's competitors.
"We came out cold, had some slow starts," he said. "We all gradually got better, but it was rough in the beginning."
First, Gayer took on Penn freshman Phil Law. Just a week before, Law had won his flight at the Columbia Invitational in New York City, and he seemed to bring his momentum with him right into New Haven.
Gayer got down early and was unable to recover, losing the match in straight sets, 3-6, 1-6. Gayer explained the defeat as a combination of him making mistakes, and Law playing well.
"He played a great game, but I missed some shots I usually don't miss," Gayer said.
Justin Tzou '10, who was in his first competition since breaking his ankle in April and being out all summer, followed Gayer. Tzou had enjoyed success in previous ITA tournaments, advancing to the round of 32 in his freshman year in 2006 in Philadelphia, Pa., and then making it to the quarterfinals as an unseeded player last year in Princeton, N.J.
Tzou was not able to carry this success over to his year's tournament however, as he fell in straight sets to St. John's University freshman Milo Hauk, 2-6, 3-6.
Rounding out the Big Green's singles entrants was junior Dan Freeman '10, who faced Quinnipiac University junior John Hughes. Hughes is the two-time reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Week, having won two-straight flight championships in tournaments at Cornell and then at home in Quinnipiac.
Freeman lost the first set, 3-6, and then trailed 3-0 in the second. He fought back, however, to send the second set into a tiebreak, which he won 13-11. In the third set, trailing 2-3, down a break, and down 30-0, Freeman had to retire because of a hand cramp.
The ITA Regional is one of nine regional tournaments held throughout the country. The two finalists of the 128-man singles draw, along with the champion of the 64-team doubles draw advance to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships beginning Thursday, Nov. 6 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
In the 32-player qualifying draw held on Thursday, Andrew Malizia '12 lost to Cornell's Conner Sherwood 4-6, 3-6, and Michael Laser '12 lost to University of Maryland-Baltimore County's Joe Adewumi 6-3, 3-6, 2-6. Curtis Roby '11 lost the first set to George Washington University's Chris Kushman 6-3, and then survived two match points to win the second set, 7-5.
Roby then took care of the third set for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 win. In his next match, Roby took on Colgate University's top singles player Martin McIntyre. Roby won the first set 6-3, but then McIntyre went on the offensive and won the next two sets to defeat Roby.
The top finishers in the qualifying draw earned a spot in the main draw competition that began on Friday.
Forty teams from throughout the Northeast entered players into the regional tournament. Chris Clayton from Harvard came in as the top singles seed, while he and Crimson teammate Chihoff Evans were slated as the No. 1 doubles pair. Clayton advanced to Monday's quarterfinal after his opponent withdrew in the second set of their third-round match.
Now the team needs to focus on improving their play, and that begins by changing the practice atmosphere.
"The most important thing is to practice with more pressure on ourselves," Gayer said. "We should try to practice in a match environment."
The Big Green looks to bounce back when it hosts the Big Green Invitational from Saturday, Nov. 1 to Monday, Nov. 3 in Hanover.
