Fab Four Are Back

The Freshmen Four are freshmen no more, and Harvard men's tennis Coach Dave Fish couldn't be happier.

The Crimson, 18-6 overall and 9-0 in the EITA last spring, finished the 1989 spring season with four freshmen--Michael Zimmerman, Mike Shyjan, Derek Brown and Albert Chang--manning the top four singles positions. The quartet returns for the fall season and will be joined by junior Roger Cardi, who was injured for most of last year.

Coach: Dave Fish

Captain: Mark Leschly

1988 records (spring): 18-6 over-all, 9-0 EITA

1988 EITA Finish: 1st

"They are all playing more maturely now and I feel very strongly about their abilities," Fish said.

Zimmerman was very successful playing in tournaments in the New York area this summer before playing on the circuit in Spain.

"[Zimmerman] has shown that he can play with the top players in the league," Fish said, "but if he can show consistency, he can have a terrific year."

Other Harvard highlights this summer included Chang earning an ATP point on the Canadian satellite circuit and Brown beating West Virginia's Paul Mancini during his run on the National Amateur Circuit.

But once again the Crimson's medical bills have been high this summer. Roger Berry's elbow surgery will keep him out of the lineup for a significant amount of time and senior Mark Leschly has not yet recovered from his wrist injury last year.

"We're in very good shape for playing right now," Fish said. "I have to make sure they're in good shape and then we can start working little extra things for the winter tournaments and the spring season."

Fish anticipates that West Virginia, Princeton, Dartmouth and Navy will be the Crimson's toughest challengers at the ITCA Eastern team championships.