Injury Hastens Bergman’s Exit From NCAAs

With consecutive victories over top-25 opponents in recent weeks, Harvard sophomore Courtney Bergman had been rolling en route to this year’s NCAA women’s singles championships, but one injury brought her momentum to a halt on Monday.

Bergman, ranked No. 46 in the nation, won her first two points against No. 12 Sarah Walker of UCLA in the NCAA first round of 64, but she felt a twinge in her forearm after the third. The injury, later diagnosed as a muscle strain, caused her to lose control of her forehand. She went on to lose the match 6-0, 6-2.

The defeat was Bergman’s third to Walker in collegiate singles play. By the luck of the draw, Bergman also faced Walker in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year and lost 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. Last October, Bergman fell to Walker 6-4, 6-4 in the Round of 16 at the ITA All-American Championships, one of two national singles tournaments in the fall season.

The Harvard women’s tennis team’s season, its winningest in history, ended last Thursday with a 4-0 defeat to No. 1 Stanford in the NCAA Round of 16 at Gainesville, Fla. While the rest of the team returned shortly thereafter, Bergman stayed behind for the individual tournament and continued taking her exams in Florida.

Stanford, the two-time defending champions, went on to lose the NCAA final 4-3 to the host Gators on Sunday.

MEN

Both Harvard sophomore Jonathan Chu and junior co-captain David Lingman were selected for the NCAA men’s singles draw, which begins play today in Athens, Ga.

Chu, ranked No. 96 nationally, plays No. 21 Todd Widom of Miami in the first round. Lingman, who is unranked, is set to face No. 32 Trystan Meniane.

Both Chu and Widom are slated to play in the morning with 9 a.m start times.

Lingman also qualified for the 32-pair NCAA doubles draw along with his partner, junior Mark Riddell. Tomorrow the two will play the No. 3 seeded team of Phillip Kinf and Michael Yani from Duke.

The Ivy champion Harvard men’s tennis team ended its season on May 11 with a 4-0 NCAA second round loss to 15th-seeded Alabama. The NCAA appearance was the program’s 13th in the last 14 years.

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.