Young Talent Finds Early-Season Success

Age certainly does not guarantee victory. Just ask sophomore Holly Cao and freshman Hideko Tachibana, who competed in a Crimson-clad final in the Flight A women’s tennis championship at the William and Mary Invitational over the weekend.

After a string of tough matches against a variety of highly-ranked opponents, the athletes faced one another for the title. Tachibana emerged as the victor, defeating Cao, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

However, this was ultimately a team victory for Harvard. Cao and Tachibana showed that they could fill the shoes of graduates Beier Ko and Laura Peterzan, the top two players in the Crimson’s lineup last season.

This year’s team is a young one, with four freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors, and no seniors. But in the mind of both Tachibana and Harvard coach Traci Green, this characteristic will not hurt the team’s competitiveness.

“A young team is a good thing,” Tachibana said. “We have a couple years to bond and build on one another.”

“This is a huge opportunity for young players to step up and take a lead role,” Green said. “It was definitely a big loss, losing Ko, an All-Ivy player, and Peterzan, our former captain and great Ivy talent, but our young players, especially freshmen, really stepped it up this first weekend.”

Harvard controlled the tournament last weekend, coming away with five finalists and three champions. The performances of Cao and Tachibana highlighted the weekend.

“Holly and Hideko amazed me with their grit and really showed what Harvard’s women’s tennis is all about, having to play in temperatures that got up to 95 degrees and in multiple three-set matches,” Green said.

The road to the finals was certainly not an easy one for either athlete. Cao defeated Lauren Sabacinski of William and Mary, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round. In the quarterfinals, she downed the No. 98 player in the nation, Yevginya Stupak of East Tennessee State University, 6-1, 6-0. In the semifinals, Cao defeated top-seeded and No. 36 Michaela Kissel of Marshall, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

“They were difficult matches, but I went out to play my game and came away with a win,” Cao said.

On her side of the draw, Tachibana beat Erin Clark of Richmond, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, Elizabeta Zaylsiva of Winthrop, 6-2, 6-4, and Kateryna Yergina of Virginia Commonwealth University, 7-5, 3-4, ret. Though she did not face a ranked challenger, Tachibana took down opponents who had previously defeated players ranked 73rd and 107th in the nation.

The three-set match in the finals between Cao and Tachibana was equally as competitive as the road each took to get there. Cao took the first set in a tiebreak, but Tachibana responded by winning the remaining two sets, 6-4, 6-3.

This opening tournament, Tachibana’s first college competition, was, in her mind, “pretty good.” Although humble about her win, the Texas native, whose older brother is on the tennis team at Rice, is ecstatic about the team this season.

“Holly is a really, really good player,” Tachibana said. “It was a tough match and very competitive....I really like the team at Harvard, and can’t wait for the regular season.”

Cao, originally from Australia, spent the majority of last year injured, and sees this tournament, and season, as a chance to make a comeback.

“During my freshman year I was injured, which obviously disrupted my training schedule,” Cao said. “But I went home over the summer, and worked out with my coach, focusing on fitness and just trying to get healthy.”

She, like Green and her teammates, saw this weekend as a true team bonding experience, despite the fact it was an individual competition.

“There was an individual, but team mindset,” Green said. “The girls were able to bond and get more familiar with each other, while showing their stuff on the court.”

Though the spring season is months away, this past weekend’s performance by Cao and Tachibana is a good sign for the future of Harvard women’s tennis.