Last Sunday, men’s tennis played a double header at the Boss Tennis Center. The Big Green swept Colgate University 7-0 and finished the day defeating Boston University 6-1.
The Big Green came into match play after winning only one of three matches in the ECAC Indoor Championship. According to head coach Xander Centenari, the Big Green trained hard to face off against teams of all different calibers.
“Our guys are doing a great job of showing up and playing hard in every match that we play, no matter who we are playing,” Centenari said.
Hikaru Takeda ’25 and Carlos Guerrero Alvarez ’25 defeated the Raiders in their doubles match 6-3. The freshmen duo Waleed Qadir ’26 and Miles Groom ’26 followed with a decisive 6-4 win, clinching the doubles point for the Big Green. The third doubles match was then cut short with Henry Ren ’26 and Logan Chang ’24 leading 5-4.
Qadir and Groom are currently 8-1 in doubles.
“We started playing really well against good teams this spring season,” Qadir said. “It's been a lot of fun playing with him [Groom], and I think we play well together.”
The Big Green kept building momentum, as all the singles matches culminated in two-set victories for Dartmouth.
Takeda secured a singles match win for Dartmouth; Guerrero Alvarez also emerged victorious without dropping a game against Colgate’s Jack Selati. Groom, Ren and Qadir also won their respective matches. Chang ended the competition against Colgate with a victory in his singles match, ensuring the Big Green sweep.
“I think it brought the positive activity back into the team with a win like that,” Ren said.
Even though the Big Green secured the victory against Colgate, the team had to refocus to face the Terriers shortly after.
“As soon as that match is finished, we typically take some time to break down the match that we just played,” Centenari said. “When we have another match that same day, the priority immediately shifts to getting physically and mentally prepared for the next one.”
This quick turnaround had no negative impact on Dartmouth. Takeda and Guerrero Alvarez beat Boston University 6-3 in their doubles match. The Terriers, however, were able to secure a 6-3 win against Qadir and Groom.
The fate of the doubles point came down to Ren and Chang’s match. The Big Green came out victorious as they won 7-5, securing an early lead.
“I felt very confident in [Chang], and I felt very confident in myself,” Ren said. “Obviously it was a very close match… we were down a break, but we were able to catch the break back… I just knew that we had it.”
The winnings continued to accumulate during singles play as Guerrero Alvarez dominated his two-set match. Takeda and Chang also won their matches in two-sets. Boston University’s Corey Craig was the Terriers’ lone victor in the singles matches with a victory against Groom.
First-year players Ren and Qadir also won their singles matches, finalizing a 6-1 win over Boston University.
“BU did a nice job, even after we had won the team match, they were pushing us in the rest of the matches,” Centenari said. “Our guys were able to come through to win it.”
Winning both matches in one day to secure a 9-3 record is no easy feat.
“Double headers are a test of your fitness in a sense,” Qadir said. “To see all of our guys fighting hard without many issues physically is a definitely good sign we can take confidence in.”
The Big Green will face off against Bryant University on Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m., followed by Pennsylvania State University on Sunday, March 5 at 10 a.m.
