Huskies Fall In NCAA Opener To No. 21 Harvard

Friday, May 2

Tucson, AZ

10:00 AM

University of Washington

Harvard

May 02, 2025 | Men's Tennis

By: UW Athletic Communications

TUCSON, Ariz. – The first NCAA Championships appearance for the Husky Men's Tennis team since 2022 ended in round one today as Washington's season came to a close with a 4-0 loss to 21st-ranked Harvard. The Huskies finished the year 17-9, their second-most wins and best win percentage since 2012, and they say goodbye to a trio of great seniors today in Cesar Bouchelaghem, Nedim Suko, and Dzianis Zharyn who got the program back to NCAAs.

Playing at Arizona's LaNelle Robson Tennis Center, the 37th-ranked Dawgs dropped the doubles point to the Ivy Leaguers and Harvard pushed its edge with four of the six first set wins in singles. They were able to finish off three matches in straight sets, while in the remaining three matches Zharyn had a 4-2 third set lead, and Suko and Soham Purohit were just starting their third sets.

This was the first NCAA appearance for the Dawgs under third-year Head Coach Rahim Esmail. He led UW in a successful move into the Big Ten this season, as the Dawgs were 8-5 in conference play, earning the No. 4 seed in the conference tourney, then reaching the semifinals.

Harvard has two top-60 doubles teams and took the early lead. 58th-ranked Lins/Milavsky had an early break of serve and it was enough to edge Bouchelaghem and Zharyn, 6-4. Brett Pearson and Rohan Belday dropped a 6-2 match on court three to Delloye/Pape to clinch it.

All Big Ten First Teamer Bouchelaghem had a hard time solving 34th-ranked Milavsky at No. 1 singles, falling 6-3, 6-2. At the five and six spots, UW was needing Ivan Sodan or Pearson to push their matches to third sets after they each lost close first sets. The second sets were both close as well, but Sodan lost, 6-4, 6-4, to Melchior Delloye to make it 3-0. Pearson then fell short to Mitchell Lee on court six, 7-5, 6-4, to send Harvard on to round two.

Zharyn had lost his first set to 90th-ranked Benjamin Privara but then he won set two, 6-0, and he was up a break, 4-2, in the third. Purohit and Suko each won their first sets on courts three and four, respectively, before losing their second sets, and just starting their thirds.

Washington Men's Tennis
NCAA Championships – First Round
May 2, 2025
Tucson, Ariz. | LaNelle Robson Tennis Center

#37 Washington – 0
#21 Harvard – 4

Singles
1. (#34) Daniel Milavsky (Harv) def. (#42) Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) – 6-3, 6-2
2. (#124) Dzianis Zharyn (UW) vs. (#90) Benjamin Privara (Harv) – 4-6, 6-0, 4-2, DNF
3. Soham Purohit (UW) vs. Rohan Murali (Harv) – 6-3, 2-6, DNF
4. Nedim Suko (UW) vs. Valdemar Pape (Harv) – 6-4, 2-6, DNF
5. Melchior Delloye (Harv) def. Ivan Sodan (UW) – 6-4, 6-4
6. Mitchell Lee (Harv) def. Brett Pearson (UW) – 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 6

Doubles
1. (#58) Lins/Milavsky (Harv) def. Zharyn/Bouchelaghem (UW) – 6-4
2. Suko/Purohit (UW) vs (#39) Perera/Privara (Harv) – 3-5, DNF
3. Delloye/Pape (Harv) def. Pearson/Belday (UW) – 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 3