Harvard Assistant Coach Earned Upsets Down Under

Harvard athletes are accustomed to competing on the national level, but seldom do they have the opportunity to cross oceans and play in international tournaments.

Eric Butorac, a volunteer coach on the Harvard men’s tennis team, did just that this past January at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia.

Entering the competition as the no. 48 ranked team in the world, Butorac and his partner Raven Klaasen were in many ways underdogs on the big stage of the Open. Having only played together since October of 2013, the pair was still getting to know each other’s playing styles and had a disadvantage from teams who have been together for years.

“I think we both really have the same understanding of how to play doubles, so we started working together very quickly. We knew going into this year that we had a good chance to play well, and our practices were really good,” Butorac said. “We knew it was only a matter of time before we would have some good results.”

And good results they did have. The pair played 14th-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden, a team that has had success in the Australian Open previously. After going down early in the match, Butorac and Klaasen were able to rally back and pull off the upset 6-4, 7-5.

Continuing their winning streak, the team came upon the no. 1 ranked doubles team in the world, Rob and Mike Bryan. Butorac had played them 12 times before and had only came out victorious once before.

This match proved to be lucky number 13. The Bryan brothers quickly went ahead in the match 4-0, to which Butorac and Klaasen rallied back to within 5-4. After a battle on the court that included a 19-shot rally, the team pulled off the upset and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Open.

“I think what helped us most is that my partner had never played them, so I think he really did believe that we could beat them,” Butorac said. “When we were down I remember him saying to me, ‘We still got this, we can win.’“

The winning ways of the pair continued as they beat both 12th-seeded Dominic Inglot and Treat Huey and the pairing of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic to move on to the final round of play and a chance for a championship.

Ultimately falling to Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt in the doubles final, Butorac and Klaasen were still able to return with smiles on their faces and a great sense of accomplishment.

“It feels great,” Butorac said. “Obviously it’s been the best that I’ve ever done in one of the Grand Slam tournaments so that’s really exciting. Also I think it probably felt even better because we beat the number one team on the way to the finals.”

Returning to Harvard to coach his team, Butorac was met by proud student athletes. After his semifinals match Butorac received a video of his players huddled around a computer screen watching their coach play in the international spotlight.

“They were all really excited which meant a lot to me,” Butorac said. ‘I’ve been coaching for four years, so I’ve gotten to know some of them pretty well. Just to see how much it meant to them—it felt the world to me to see that they watched my match and see how excited they were in that moment was a special feeling.”