Stanley Removed From Harvard Tennis Squad

A co-captain of the Harvard men's tennis team has been dropped from the squad following an irresolvable dispute with his coach.

Co-Captain Bill Stanley was officially removed from the Crimson roster before last Saturday's Harvard-Pennsylvania match at Beren Tennis Center.

"It was an internal matter," Harvard Coach Dave Fish said. "It was a hard decision to make. It doesn't mean that I'm right or he's wrong. It was a situation we couldn't work out. We weren't able to resolve things."

"It definitely hurts to lose Billy as a competitor," Fish continued. "A unit can't function at its best when it has an internal disagreement. Quite obviously it's going to hurt to lose a player like Billy."

"I have no comment at this time," Stanley said. "I will say something at a later date."

An All-EITA selection in his first three years at Harvard, Stanley, a senior from Rye, N.Y., can best be described as an aggressive baseline player and a self-motivator on the court. Many people have compared Stanley to a younger Jimmy Connors.

"Bill is a fiery competitor on the court," Fish said. "He's so competitive that he loses control. He is a very nice person off the court."

"He apologized," Fish continued. "I think he meant it sincerely. I think he feels that he let the team down. He's just a competitor who never quits."

Fish said the decision to remove Stanley from the team was a difficult one.

"It's like a divorce," Fish said. "I think off the court Billy and I would enjoy each other a lot."

Stanley's court accomplishments in three-and-a-half years on the squad are impressive. He was 24-2 in Ivy League dual matches; he was a finalist in the ECAC tournament; he won the Rolex Qualifiers in his freshman and sophomore years; and he reached the semifinals of the Rolex last year.

Stanley was a finalist in the Princeton Invitational and won the team's Most Valuable Player award in both his sophomore and junior years. Stanley was also named to the All-Ivy team three times.