M. Tennis Battles No. 1 Illinois to End

Saturday’s loss to No. 1 Illinois in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament was disappointing to say the least—and yet, as the match wore on and the Harvard men’s tennis team watched co-captains David Lingman and Cliff Nguyen embattled in almost simultaneous second-set tiebreaks, both struggling to propel the Crimson past a Fighting Illini squad which had not lost in more than two years, the scenario was strangely appropriate.

Lingman and Nguyen were two of the last three Harvard players off the courts, both of them mounting remarkable comebacks which fell short just a point here and a point there.

“I just have so much confidence in those guys,” said Harvard coach Dave Fish ’72, “because they’re both such seasoned competitors. If you’re going to win with anybody, they might as well be out there.”

Lingman battled back from a second-set 5-1 deficit against the No. 1 player in the nation, Brian Wilson, before ultimately losing his tiebreak.

Nguyen showed similar grit when he battled back from down a set and a break to win his tiebreak and force a decisive third set, one he would ultimately lose.

And though Lingman and Nguyen eventually lost their final matches as Crimson co-captains, they proved why they had earned the titles in the first place.

“It’s unfortunate that we lost to today,” said junior Jonathan Chu, a likely successor of the pair, “but there was never a sign of giving up, or being afraid, or regret. I wouldn’t rather have anybody else on the courts than Dave and Cliff in those two matches. They’ve come up big for us all year long.”

And while the Crimson (19-7, 7-0 Ivy) surely profited from both the skill and direction of its leaders, the co-captains were not alone in piloting the team—rather, the Harvard roster actually boasted five seniors, each of whom substantially contributed to this season’s success.

Lingman was the obvious standout, accumulating a 15-7 record in the top singles spot as well as his second straight Ivy Player of the Year honors. He ended the season ranked No. 36 in the country in individual play, and he was selected to play in both the singles and doubles draws of the individual NCAA Tournaments.

Though he’ll be paired with Chu in the doubles competition—the two played together for the first half of the season and attained a ranking as high as No 25—he ended the season with Mark Riddell.

Riddell, solid in the third singles spot all season long, finished the year 10-7.

He clinched a team victory in the semifinals of the Blue-Gray Invitational Tournament when Harvard played UNC neck-and-neck to a 3-3 tie, placing all the pressure on Riddell.

The senior dropped the first set, but showing tremendous grace under fire, he stormed back to take his match 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 and give his team a semifinal victory.

“I would not have had anybody rather than Mark finishing that thing out,” Lingman said after his teammate’s thrilling win.

Nguyen faced a similar situation against Illinois, with all the pressure of an entire day’s competition resting on his shoulders. And though the ball did not bounce Nguyen’s way against the Illini, the co-captain has consistently performed under pressure throughout the season.

Though he missed much of the team’s flawless Ivy campaign with a lingering back injury, Nguyen was in Fish’s lineup against Brown, Harvard’s only real competition for the Ancient Eight title. He won his match 6-3, 6-4, despite missing three weeks before the contest, and the Crimson went on to take the Ivy crown.

Meanwhile, senior Chris Chiou played what Fish deemed “a career match” against the Orange and Blue, destroying his opponent 7-5, 6-2 to put his team on the board.

Chiou took advantage of every match he played in the Harvard lineup, stringing along an 11-5 record and battling whenever his coach gave him the nod, even the day before his MCAT exam.

Rounding out the senior class is George Turner, who has played his entire career with, as Fish once said, “the most extreme passion.”

When Harvard dropped all six first sets to Minnesota in February, the team had to mount a miraculous comeback to manage a 4-3 victory. Turner clinched the fourth point with an 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 win after losing the first seven games.

Traditionally the last off the courts, Turner is known for stretching his matches for all they are worth. When he finished second against Dartmouth earlier this season, he mused that he remembered finishing that quickly “only when I lose. Bad.

“I’m always out there last,” he explained with a grin. “The guys don’t know what to do when they hear me cheering after my matches.”

Next year, the Crimson will be without the five seniors who have led this year’s team to an Ivy Title and the Sweet 16.

“Every so often there are landmark classes that have so much to do with where the team goes,” Fish said in March, “and this is one of those classes.

“Every one of them has been a contributor. So it’s sad, because we’re going to miss them totally, but in terms of their contributions to the program, it’s like their places are firmly established [by] what they’ve done.”

The seniors’ collective final match against Illinois was disappointing to say the last—yet as the sun set on this year’s season, with Nguyen and Lingman among the last to leave the courts, something seemed fitting just the same.

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