M. Tennis Aces Regional Tournament

1996

Sports Statistics

Record: 20-7, 8-1 EITA

EITA Finish: 1st

Coach: Dave Fish

Key Players: Senior Mitty Arnold; Junior Tom Blake

1997

Harvard prides itself on a lengthy history and time-honored traditions. Unfortunately the college sports world has a short memory--a champion's reign lasts only one year and freshman phenoms quickly replace graduated seniors.

In the sports world, the question is always, "What have you done for me lately?" not, "What have you done in the last century?"

Even the most ardent Crimson sports fan or Harvard historian would be hard-pressed to remember the last time a member of the men's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships before the 1997 success of the doubles team of senior Mitty Arnold and junior Tom Blake.

The team of Arnold and Blake produced one of the best Harvard runs through the national championships in decades, reaching the semifinals before losing to Tim Blenkiron and Luke Smith of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, at UCLA's Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Although Harvard dominated the national tournament throughout the first quarter of the 20th century, no player had previously reached the national semifinals in singles or doubles during the 21-year tenure of coach Dave Fish '72.

Historical records are incomplete, but it is believed that the last time a Harvard player advanced this far in a national tourney was during the 1920s or 1930s.

While the triumphs of Harvard tennis that opened the century are yesterday's news, the stellar play of Arnold and Blake in this year's tournament provides an appropriate bookend.

Arnold and Blake began their march to the final four with a 6-4, 7-6 (1) defeat of Middle Tennessee State's Anthony DeLuise and Fredric Niemeyer in the first round. Next, the tandem posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ed Carter and Sergio Elias of Arizona State.

With their victory over Arizona State in the second round, the Harvard pair landed in the quarterfinals and earned automatic all-American honors for their efforts.

"I was definitely talking to myself on the court, reminding myself that this was my last chance," Arnold said after the Arizona State match. "But I'm not thinking about it too much. I knew we had the chance to come here and do well, and now we can go even farther."

Arnold and Blake went on to defeat the Stanford doubles team of Paul Goldstein and Ryan Wolters 7-6 (1), 6-4 in the quarterfinals before having their luck run out against UNLV in the next round.

"I'm very happy with the way the week went," Arnold said after the semifinal defeat. "I'm glad Tom and I represented Harvard the way we did."

Besides all-American honors, Blake was named the National Player to Watch.

In early January, Blake established his presence on the national scene by winning the Milwaukee Classic championship.

The stellar play of Arnold and Blake helped ease the Crimson's pain after it was eliminated from the team tournament by Stanford, the eventual national champions.

Harvard, which had amassed a season record of 20-7, fell to the Cardinals 4-0 in the round of 16.

"Stanford is marching toward a national championship and they were ready to play," said Harvard head coach Dave Fish '72 after the defeat. "I thought that if they brought 100 percent of theirs against 100 percent of ours, they're going to win."

Stanford, with three players ranked nationally in the top 25, rode the momentum of the close doubles victory into the singles. The Cardinal triumphed in straight sets at No. 4, No. 1 and No. 3 for the 4-0 win.

Harvard's return to California for the NCAA Championships was not nearly as successful as its sojourn there during spring break. The Crimson ventured to the Golden State in late March to play in the California-Santa Barbara Invitational where it placed second.

In the first round, the Crimson defeated U.C.-Santa Barbara, 4-3, to earn a match-up with then-No. 2 Boise State. Harvard eliminated Boise St., 4-1, in the semifinals and then faced UNLV for the championship.

The Runnin' Rebels, however, had their way with the Crimson, defeating the squad from Cambridge 4-2.

The team graduates Arnold and senior captain Joshua Hausman, but returns a strong group of players, led by Blake, for next year.