M. Tennis Awaits Foe in NCAA Regional Today

The team may be without the services of co-captain Tom Blake this weekend, but it will probably take a lot more adversity than that to keep the Harvard men's tennis team from snatching its third straight NCAA Regional Championship at Princeton, N.J. this weekend.

Still hampered by a sore hamstring, Blake, the Crimson's No. 1 singles player and the recently named Regional Player of the Year, will miss this weekend's action and is questionable even if the team makes it to the next round of the NCAAs.

"Certainly if Thomas can come back this is the best team that I have been on and definitely the best team throughout the course of the year," said junior Mike Passarella. "Without Thomas there is a big hole."

That hole, however, may not be exposed until later in the tournament considering the depth of talent in the Crimson ranks.

Harvard enters the Regionals as the highly touted No. 1 seed. A first-round bye will pit the Crimson against the winner of today's play-in match between Columbia (13-4) and Penn State (10-12) tomorrow afternoon.

Of the five other teams in the region--which include Virginia Tech, host Princeton and Miami--Harvard has faced four of them this season and posted a 5-0 record in those matches.

In addition, Tom Blake's No. 1 singles spot will be ably filled by his younger brother James, who has been ranked as high as third in the nation in singles play. The freshman Blake held that precious spot, which was the highest by a Harvard player since Howard Sands '83 was ranked No. 2 in the country in 1983, from March 10 to April 7.

This weekend will also see the return of junior Kunj Majmudar to the lineup. Majmudar had been sidelined with a nagging shoulder injury but will play in the No. 2 singles spot. He will also pair up with James Blake as the first doubles team.

"I am feeling pretty good, and I don't feel anything in my shoulder," Majmudar said. "I have been practicing well for the past week and have had no problems."

Majmudar's presence will be a welcome relief to a Crimson doubles unit that has been severely depleted as of late. Not only have both Majmudar and Tom Blake been out of action because of injury, but sophomore John Doran recently missed some time while playing for Ireland in the Davis Cup.

"Our doubles lineup looks pretty good right now. I think that we have a lot of good doubles players on the team overall so we can all play with each other if we need to," Majmudar said. "I don't think that it will be too much of a problem. We seem to adapt very well, and we have also been expecting to be without [Tom]. That's how we have been practicing."

Last year as the No. 3 seed in the region, the Harvard players were able to climb their way to the top spot, but this year there is no one above them. The Crimson is riding a 13-match winning streak and are winners in 18 of its last 19 matches this season.

Needless to say, confidence is not something that Harvard should be lacking. But then again, one loss and the season could come to an abrupt end.

"It won't be that hard [to focus on the Regionals] because Miami nearly beat us last year, and they are a very strong team again," said Passarella of a Hurricane team that is ranked No. 30 in the nation. "Basically in one match any-thing can happen, and we know that."

Harvard would not face Miami until the championship match on Sunday, but until then, Columbia appears to be the first competitor on tap for the Crimson players.

The Lions, winners of their last nine of ten matches, are also in the midst of a late-season surge and will be making their fourth NCAA trip in five years.

"We will probably play Columbia right away, and they are a tough team," Majmudar said. "All of us will have to play pretty well, but probably our toughest match will be in the finals."

If all goes well for the Crimson, this week-end's regional tournament will be like the two that proceeded it.

Then, with its automatic berth into the round of 16 safely in hand, the Harvard players will be able to welcome back the services of Tom Blake.

"I think that we are very solid. We are pretty deep and solid all around from the first to the eighth spot," Majmudar said. "I think that we have a good shot to do very well at NCAAs.