Tennis Team Sinks Navy, 8-1, in Opening Match

The Harvard tennis team swept to a surprisingly easy 8-1 Eastern League victory over Navy Saturday at Annapolis under near blizzard conditions with snow falling and 30-40 mile per hour winds swirling around the courts.

The Crimson captured all but one of the six singles matches in its first outdoors league notch of the season. Harvard captain Ken Lindner upended Kevin Mills, the Midshipmen captain, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. Trailing, 3-5, in the third set, Lindner took the final four games to clinch the match.

In the other singles matches, John Ingard defeated Mark Jee, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, while Chap Baird disposed of Steve Merchant, 6-3, 6-2. Charlie Crusan, playing fifth singles in place of the ailing Joe Hone, overcame Bob Bristow, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, and Gary Reiner defeated Desi Dundics, 6-3, 6-3.

Hugh Hyde suffered the only Crimson defeat of the day, losing to the Middies' Bob Philips, 6-2, 6-2.

In the doubles matches, Ingard and Lindner combined to defeat Mills and Jee, 7-5, 7-5. Gardi Rowbotham and Hyde teamed to beat Dundics and Merchant, 7-5, 6-1, and Reiner and Baird defeated Steve Hoekstra and Bristow, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

The victory bodes well for the team's future in the East. In beating Navy, Harvard defeated a Middie team that trounced Dartmouth earlier this year, 8-1. The win shows that the team has unusual depth and strong players down the line. Also, it was the first time this year that the Crimson played on a clay court, having played previously only on hardcourt surfaces.

Lindner said after Saturday's match, "Everybody is really in shape because of all the running we've done, and there's lots of spirit. If we stay healthy this year we'll do just fine."

The team completed a successful southern tour prior to the Navy match, during which the Crimson defeated Georgia Tech, South Carolina, and Presbyterian, while losing only to Clemson and Georgia.