M. Tennis To Face No. 1 Illinois in NCAAs

All season long, Harvard men’s tennis coach David Fish ’72 has cautioned his team that “you climb one mountain, and there’s going to be another, bigger, beyond it.” Well, tomorrow the No. 21 Crimson will face what Fish deemed its “Everest” in No. 1 Illinois—the defending national champion squad that hasn’t lost since May 2002, 62 matches ago.

“Illinois is a great team,” Harvard junior Jonathan Chu said of his opponent, which the Crimson will play against in Tulsa, Okla. “So we look forward to the challenge of playing the best, because if you’re going to make the Sweet 16, you might as well play the best teams there.”

And for more than a year, the Fighting Illini (30-0, 13-0 Big Ten) have been the best. The squad has been atop the nation since February 2003, and in its last seven victories, the team has dropped only one dual match point, that in a 4-1 defeat of No. 17 Ohio State.

Illinois has beaten current top-20 teams nine times, including a 4-0 drubbing of No. 3 UCLA, a 4-2 defeat of No. 9 Stanford and 6-1 wins over No. 6 Duke and No. 8 Florida.

Harvard (19-6, 7-0 Ivy) fell to the latter two schools 4-0 and 5-2, respectively, though the matchups came at very different times in the season.

And, explained Fish, “the important thing for us always to remember is that we’re not playing a program—we’re playing individual players.

“And the individual players have fights with their girlfriends, they get bad nights’ sleep, they get food poisoning just like all of us do. And so to go in with any prejudgment about what’s going to happen is kind of silly.”

A quick glance at the Illinois roster, however, makes that assumption somewhat easier.

The lineup includes the No. 5 doubles tandem of Brian Wilson and Phil Stolt. The duo has compiled a record of 20-4, and the accomplishments are equally impressive when considered individually.

No. 51 Stolt has proven deadly in the second singles position, going 18-5 and taking 11 of his last 12 finished matches.

Meanwhile, Wilson owns the top singles ranking in the country, boasting a 21-3 record.

His only losses came at the hands of top-15 opponents, and he has been taken to only four third sets in his 21 victories.

Wilson’s Harvard counterpart will be Crimson co-captain David Lingman, currently ranked No. 36. The two seniors met in last fall’s Icy Hot/ITA Men’s All-American Championships, a match which Wilson took 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

“David … lost to him,” Fish admitted, “but didn’t get beaten badly. I think [Wilson] is a terrific player, and David will certainly have his work cut out, but all those guys have good and bad days too.”

Last weekend, Lingman dominated Tulane’s Michael Kogan, sending the No. 11 player packing in two sets. He deemed the match “good preparation” for tomorrow’s with Wilson, pointing to the similarly aggressive style his opponents share.

The fact remains, however, that 16-seed Harvard is the underdog resting in the mighty Orange and Blue shadow of top-seed Illinois.

“We’ve played other good teams,” Fish pointed out, adding “and that’s why people play those matches, so that you don’t just say, ‘OK, they’re the No. 1 ranked team in the country, so we’re just going to take our hats off and get on our knees.’”

And last weekend’s impressive showing against Tulane should boost the Crimson’s confidence. The squad beat the Green Wave 4-2, pulling out a hotly-contested doubles point and running away with the singles matches.

The victory marked Harvard’s ninth in a row, and it featured accurately aggressive play from junior Martin Wetzel, who has won six of his last seven, and Chu, who’s won seven of his last eight.

“I’m confident,” declared Chu, “that if we come and play like we did against Tulane, it’s anybody’s match.

“We’re going to bring the fight. We know it’s going to be hot, we know that there’s going to be a lot of people watching—us being Harvard, and playing Illinois—so we’re just looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge at the same time.”

Should the Crimson win tomorrow’s match, the squad will have pulled one of the greatest upsets in recent Harvard history. Illinois’ defeat will have been two years and 62 matches in the making.

Outside Crimson circles, though, few are worried about the Illini. And that’s just fine with Harvard.

“I think it’s an honor,” Fish said of the chance to play Illinois in the Sweet 16, pointing to his team’s outstanding performance in the first two rounds.

“If we don’t have guys that sort of love that idea, then it’s not the team that I’m thinking I have,” he added.

“Illinois is going in as the defending champion,” Chu said, “and this is where their tournament really begins. We have nothing to lose, and we’re going to go after them at every position, and I’m confident that if we come and play like we did against Tulane, it’s anybody’s match.

“So we look forward to an intense battle, and that’s what it’s going to be. Whatever happens [will happen] in the end, and we’re just going to be in there fighting our hearts out the whole entire time.”

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.