By Justin C. Wong, The Harvard Crimson
When the Harvard men’s basketball team defeated New Mexico in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, it was hailed as a Cinderella story.
Harvard’s Denis Nguyen. Photo from Ivy League Sports.
But even the basketball squad’s underdog journey pales in comparison to that of junior Denis Nguyen of the men’s tennis team. The Anaheim, Calif., native just completed an improbable run by reaching the national semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Singles Championship.
While the rest of his Harvard classmates are enjoying the start of their summer vacation, Nguyen, who is ranked 39th nationally and earned an at-large bid into the bracket, traveled to Athens, Ga., to compete in the tournament, which was held May 21-26.
Nguyen went 11-4 in dual play for the season at the No. 1 slot for a Crimson squad that placed second in the Ivy League and advanced to the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament in early May. He also earned All-Ivy League singles honors for the third straight year, including a unanimous first-team selection for the second consecutive season.
The junior backed up those accolades at the national tournament, coming out strong in his first round matchup against No. 40 Lloyd Glasspool of Texas.
Nguyen took an early three-game lead and eventually broke Glasspool’s serve on set point to take the first set, 6-4. In the second frame, Nguyen again jumped out ahead, and closed out the Longhorn junior, 6-3.
From there, Nguyen took on 44th-ranked Fred Saba of Duke in the second round. Harvard’s top singles player again started quickly, breaking the Blue Devil senior’s serve and jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Nguyen eventually took the set, 6-4, and won the second set by the same score to close out the match.
Read the full story by Justin C. Wong from The Harvard Crimson.
