W. Tennis Overwhelmed by Georgia

Not even the return of Harvard women’s tennis ace and co-captain Courtney Bergman could provide the lift necessary to overcome the collective firepower amassed by No. 4 Georgia in its 6-1 victory over the Crimson yesterday at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

Bergman—who was sidelined by a knee injury she suffered during the fall season—sat out Harvard’s first matchup of the season against No. 30 Alabama last Saturday in anticipation of the tournament. But the added rest wasn’t enough to put her over the edge in either match.

Bergman and her partner, junior co-captain Susanna Lingman—ranked No. 49 in the collegiate doubles ranks—made a run at an enormous upset in the No. 1 doubles slot against No. 4 Agata Cioroch and Shardisha Robinson, forcing the elite pair to a deciding tiebreaker before ultimately falling 9-8 (3).

But though their combined strength rendered the two pairs evenly matched, when split up for singles play Georgia seized the upper hand.

Cioroch, ranked No. 1 in the country, blew her match against No. 25 Bergman wide open in the first set with a commanding 6-0 victory, immediately sending her Crimson counterpart reeling.

But after the match’s frantic start, the momentum settled to equally favor both players. Bergman held her own, rattling off victories in four games, but was unable to overcome Cioroch’s break of her serve, falling 6-4 in the second. The straight set victory earned the Bulldogs their fourth point, knocking Harvard from the tournament.

Lingman suffered a similar fate to Bergman’s in first set against No. 12 Robinson, dropping each of the first six games. But Robinson, unlike Cioroch, did not allow Lingman to establish her own game in the next set, a smothering 6-1 win.

Wang and freshman Preethi Mukundan were similarly unable to gain any control over their matches, dropping both in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-1, respectively.

Wang and her doubles partner, junior Alexis Martire fared little better, falling 8-2.

The showdown was not without its small victories for the Crimson. Sophomore Melissa Anderson gained Harvard’s only point of the day with a win over No. 68 Natalie Frazier in a battle of attrition in which Frazier was forced to retire due to injury.

Freshman Cindy Chu at No. 6 was similarly successful in taking opponent Alexandra Smith to the limit, though she ultimately fell, 7-5, 7-5.

The team was unavailable for comment.