Freshman Step Up in Post-Blake Rebuilding Season for M. Tennis

The beginning of the Harvard men's tennis season can be described as a "getting to know you" session.

The Crimson needed a few introductory months. James Blake '01 turned pro after being the nation's top college player last year. The team graduated its other top players--Kunj Majmudar '99 and Mike Passarella '99. With this trio, Harvard breezed through its schedule and was one of the nation's best teams.

Unfortunately, the lineup was almost immediately shaken. Co-captain and No. 1 player John Doran suffered a knee injury before the season began, which forced his cousin and co-captain Joe Green to take the top spot. Both players had performed well the previous season, but several relatively inexperienced juniors and seniors would now see regular playing time, in addition to six new freshmen.

After several individual tournaments in Rhode Island and Oklahoma, Harvard competed in the ECAC team championships at Princeton.

Despite being the defending champion and No. 1 seed, Harvard was not the favorite. After defeating Georgetown, Navy and Brown, the Crimson faced a strong Columbia team. Down 3-0 and on the brink of elimination, the Crimson rallied to win matches at the lower singles positions. Junior Andrew Styperek capped an amazing Crimson comeback when he pulled off a three-set win at No. 4 singles, and Harvard had the title, 4-3.

The ITA Rolex Individual regional tournament closed out the fall season, and for Harvard it was a fitting display of its internal parity. Green and sophomore William Lee, the Crimson's two seeded players, lost early, while freshman Dave Lingman and Styperek made an excellent run through the tournament.

After the NCAA-mandated "dead period" and some more individual tournaments, the Crimson returned in February for the real season--the spring dual match season.

Doran returned and Harvard continued its home-match winning-streak, which would reach 41by the end of the season, by polishing off Oklahoma State. After a win over Kansas and a 1-2 record during the indoor team championships in Kentucky, the Crimson hit a rough three-week stretch. It lost to top teams UCLA and Southern Methodist and then struggled against mid-level teams.

Those three weeks dropped the Crimson out of the top-25 and into the lower 60s of the NCAA rankings. Then came spring break.

Harvard headed to California, where the Crimson was supposed to play strong opponents, including No. 1 Stanford, Cal and Pacific, balanced by a relatively easy Santa Clara team. Whether it was the jetlag or the sun, Harvard dropped the match to Santa Clara and was only able to pull out a victory over Pacific. Overall, the trip contributed to Harvard's slide in the national rankings.

All that mattered little, however, as Harvard was just about to rip into its Ivy League schedule. Another Ivy title would guarantee the Crimson a spot in the NCAA tournament. By this time, the lineup, significantly altered from than the fall, had become consistent.

Doran played No. 1, and the surprising freshman Lingman took the No. 2 spot. Lingman's doubles partner, Green, played at No. 3, while players like Anthony Barker, Lee, Dalibor Snyder and Mike Rich filled out the rest of the spots while Styperek was injured.

Harvard did not start the Ivy season on the right foot. In a rematch of the ECAC finals, Harvard lost, 4-3, at Columbia. While the Crimson beat Cornell, the loss almost killed Harvard's chances at the Ivy title, as the Lions were a stronger team.

On the weekend of April 14, the Crimson dedicated its new 18-court outdoor facility, the Robert M. Beren Tennis center. It opened up in style, as the Crimson ripped through Penn, 6-1, and played an exciting match against Princeton, the only other tough Ivy foe, winning 4-3.

The next weekend, however, officially killed Harvard's chances at an Ivy League title. Playing in Providence versus Brown, the team put up a horribly inconsistent effort against the resurgent Bears, losing 4-3. The second Ivy League loss put Harvard out of contention for the conference title and an NCAA tournament appearance for the first time in years.

Harvard finished off the season with easy wins over Yale and Dartmouth, but the "rebuilding" season felt empty without postseason play or a title. While it will be a blow to have Green and Doran leave (Doran will turn pro after graduation.), Lingman should make a capable No. 1, and Rich and Snyder will be effective co-captains.