Netmen Dominate at Harvard Invitational

When your chances are three out of four, you're almost guaranteed of success.

If you're the Harvard men's tennis team, it's a sure bet, even when the odds aren't as great.

The Crimson swept the singles and doubles in both the "A" and "B" draws at the Harvard Invitational Tournament this weekend at Beren Tennis Center.

Three Crimson players--sophomores Derek Brown, Mike Shyjan, and Michael Zimmerman--and Matthias Mueller of the University of Nebraska reached the semifinals in "A" singles.

Zimmerman defeated Mueller in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1, to win the singles competition yesterday.

The first set was a masterful display of power and finesse on the part of both players. Sheer brute strength was not enough to gain the upper hand in this contest; cunning was also required, as evidenced by a point in the ninth game when Zimmerman, pinned deep behind the baseline, chased down three overhead smashes, only to have Mueller drop it softly just over the net to win the point.

In the second set, however, Mueller quickly fell behind, 3-1, and seemed unable to muster the drive to fight back. His play became dispirited and mechanical, and he actually took to lying down between points, earning quizzical glances from Zimmerman.

"I guess he was just physically and mentally drained," Zimmerman said. "It's kind of hard to play someone who's doing that because you start to ease up, too, and then he'll start hitting again. You get totally out of your rhythm."

Zimmerman reached the final by defeating teammate Shyjan in a fiercely contested three-setter Saturday. With Shyjan up a set and serving for the set, at 5-4 he was two points away from the match at 30-30. Zimmerman, however, demonstrated just what it is that makes him such a tough player--his incredible mental strength--fighting back to take the match, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Mueller defeated Brown in three sets as well to reach the final. The Cornhusker was also pushed to the limit by Harvard sophomore Albert Chang in an earlier round.

"My teammates helped me out a lot," Zimmerman said. "They tired him out with all those long matches. It seemed like he put all his energy into the first set, and when he lost, he sort of gave up. If he had won the first set, he might been able to take the second just from sheer adrenaline."

Shyjan and Zimmerman took the doubles title, defeating the Nebraska duo of Mueller and Ken Feuer, 6-3, 6-0.

In the men's B-final, Harvard sophomore John Tolmie came from a *** field in three hard-fought sets, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5.

Tolmie survived two match points in the tiebreaker, making incredible shots under pressure to knot the score at six-all. He was actually helped by a questionable line call by Benefield. The crowd responded in audible disbelief leading Benefield to reverse his call. The incident seemed to shake his concentration, allowing Tolmie to capitalize and take the tiebreaker.

"I guess I got kind of lucky." Tolmie said. "He was kind of upset about that call."

B-Line

Brown and Chang defeated Brown's John Abbey and Jason Baker, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), to take the "B" doubles title.

"This tournament was a really good opener for us." Shyjan said. "It really boosted our confidence to do so well. And I must be in much better shape after playing 30,000 matches this weekend."