AOTW: Lingman Turns in Stellar Sunday

The stage couldn’t get any bigger on Sunday, and David Lingman’s performance couldn’t have been any better.

In Harvard’s Murr Center, packed to the gills with a deafening crowd, the No. 21 Crimson men’s tennis team battled No. 19 Tulane for Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA tournament.

A Harvard loss would mark a bitter end to a stellar season, one which included an Ivy title and had seemed, all along, a mere precursor to NCAA tournament success.

The stage was set for Lingman, the Crimson’s co-captain, top singles player and inspirational hub.

And boy, did he deliver.

Though he and classmate Mark Riddell contributed to Harvard’s doubles point victory as the pair streamrolled its way to an 8-1 victory, it was Lingman’s singles match against the Green Wave’s top player, No. 11 Michael Kogan, which made the afternoon truly unforgettable.

Kogan, also a senior, had not lost in his past 12 matches. The 26-year old Israeli native, a two-time All-American in both singles and doubles, had been ranked as high as No. 9 earlier this spring.

But No. 36 Lingman didn’t care. One collegiate career had to end, and it wasn’t going to be his.

“I’d like to play Tulane,” he even said a week prior to the match, well before he knew which team the Crimson would face, “just because their No. 1 guy is really good, and I’d love to play him.”

Wish granted.

There was electricity in the air even as the players warmed up, and to the delight of the fans packed above his court, Lingman closed out the first set 6-2.

With some of his shots bordering on the unbelievable, he returned seemingly irretrievable balls with deadly precision.

“Kogan’s the type of player I like to play,” he explained, pointing to his opponent’s aggressiveness and frequent trips to the net, many of which Lingman ruined with spot-on passing shots.

“I focused on really attacking him because I knew he’d be attacking me, and that’s when I usually play my best tennis.”

And though he fell behind early, Lingman ultimately secured the second set 6-4.

Harvard would go on to defeat Tulane 4-2 with contributions from all courts, but Lingman’s play on the day was nothing short of spectacular.

“It was a superb performance,” said Crimson coach David Fish ’72, “and I thought that it was the quintessential Lingman game.”

And though the “quintessential Lingman game” has been only sporadically present this year, the California native has compiled a 30-8 record in singles—16-6 in spring dual matches—both testaments to his sheer talent.

But he had that game on Sunday.

“Certainly, it was the Lingman of old,” declared junior Jonathan Chu, adding that “his intensity is just electrifying.”

“We had a feeling that this was starting to come,” Fish explained. “David’s a pretty cool customer, so I thought that the importance of the event would be more likely to bring out his best.”

It did, and for that, David Lingman is our Athlete of the Week.

And for his modest admission that “it was a good match,” Lingman should also take home Understatement of the Year honors.