M. Tennis Tops Brown

Any sign of a threatening cloud or inclement weather often significantly reduces the prospect of a productive and cheerful day.

For most people, that is.

In the case of the Harvard men's tennis team, any sign of tumultuous weather conditions, or, more simply, water falling from the sky, produces just the opposite effects. Brown  0 Harvard  7

As the Crimson (14-6 overall, 6-0 EITA) showed in yesterday's 7-0 destruction of Brown, it thrives when given the opportunity to play matches in the sheltered confines of Palmer Dixon Courts.

The Crimson's only difficulties occurred before the match was moved indoors.

In doubles, an area where the Crimson has struggled in the past few weeks, the team grabbed the doubles point by winning two out of three matches.

Although it was able to pull through and take the point, the Crimson still showed signs of weakness in this area.

The lone Harvard loss came at second doubles, where freshman Thomas Blake and sophomore Josh Hausman fell 8-5 to the Bears duo of John Nicholson and Todd Myers. Blake and Hausman also had difficulties in last week's win over Princeton.

At first doubles, captain Andrew Rueb and sophomore Mitty Arnold took home a close 8-5 victory.

"They were a better team than I had expected," Rueb said. "But I thought that we were a little bit stagnant--we didn't do a good job of moving and crossing. We were just playing traditional doubles."

Yet Harvard did have an easy time at third doubles, as freshman Philip Tseng and junior Todd Meringoff stomped on the Bears' Jeffrey Barnes and Mark Ghaly 8-3.

If there was ever any question of the outcome during the doubles matches, all doubts were silenced when the match was moved indoors.

"I think that every team fears us indoors because we have a big-hitting team," Tseng said. "Every team wants to play us outside even if it looks like it's going to rain."

At second singles, Tseng's performance exemplified the reasons that other squads fear the Crimson indoors.

Tseng--who had the most dominant performance of the afternoon--routed Nicholson 6-0, 6-1. He is now 4-0 in division matches at this position.

"I thought that I really mixed them up well," Tseng said. "I kept the guy guessing, served and volleyed, and was very aggressive throughout the match."

The impressive focus of the Crimson was elicited best by the gutsy three-set wins of Rueb and Meringoff at first and fifth singles, respectively.

Brown's Cornel Catrina got off to an exceptional start against the feisty Rueb, utilizing his hard groundstrokes and solid returns to win the opening set, 6-4.

"He's a flashy player," Rueb said. "In the first set, he broke my serve with some of the biggest returns that I have ever seen. There is a tendency to panic in situations like that, but it is important to stick with what you know works best."

Rueb--who is undefeated in the region at first singles--did not panic. By continuing to follow his game plan, he refused to succumb to Catrina's persistence, and took the second set 6-3.

After that, it was all over.

Catrina cracked under the pressure, belting balls around the court and losing focus on the match. Rueb continued to play well, and won the final set, 6-2.

"He didn't want to gut it out," Rueb said. "He got down and packed it in."

Another valiant effort by Meringoff propelled the Crimson to a shutout.

Meringoff--who has struggled with injuries for the past year--demonstrated his ability to remain mentally focused after a rough start, taking the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

At third singles, Arnold continued his undefeated regional streak as he took a commanding 6-3, 6-4 victory. Blake's 6-2, 6-3 victory at fourth singles and Hausman's 6-2, 6-4 route at sixth singles equally contributed to the thrashing of the Bears.

The Crimson's domineering victory over the Bears puts it in good position for today's match against Yale. Yale (11-9 overall, 4-3 EITA), should provide a good test for the Crimson, as the Elidefeated the Crimson 4-3 in last year's dual.

"Obviously, we just can't afford to lose," Rueb said. "Yale is Yale."

And since we know that the Crimson can perform well outdoors, we really do not need to hope for rain.