Harvard Regains Ivy Crown in Commanding Campaign

Some of the most notable moments in sports history, such as Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” in the 1932 World Series and Joe Namath’s guaranteed victory in Superbowl III, occur when players foresee success. Last year, then-sophomore Chris Clayton made a less dramatic but equally accurate prediction of his own that his Harvard men’s tennis team would win the Ivy League this season.

The Crimson, driven by solid play across the board, brought home the Ivy League Championship with a perfect 7-0 record and notched a 15-7 record overall. Even in its losses, No. 51 Harvard put up impressive fights against top-flight teams such as then-No. 1 Virginia, then-No. 13 Pepperdine, then-No. 8 Michigan, and especially against then-No. 17 Texas Tech in the Crimson’s first NCAA tournament in four years.

The squad’s grueling slate before Ivy League play began certainly left Harvard prepared to face its less challenging conference opponents.

Although the schedule gave the Crimson a taste of the NCAA’s best in 2008, it remains to be seen whether Harvard can repeat this year’s performance next season and make good on co-captain Clayton’s next prediction, that “we’ll be competitive at a national level.”

To come anywhere near that lofty goal, the Crimson will have to recapture the stellar chemistry it had this year and fill the gaps at the top of its lineup left by the graduation of Ashwin Kumar and co-captain Dan Nguyen, while making up for the experience and intensity lost with the graduation of Gareth Doran and Kieran Burke.

The team will have to find a way to inject some energy into its doubles lineup, which often struggled at all postions except No. 1, where the No. 34 duo of Kumar and junior Sasha Ermakov won seven straight matches to guide the Crimson to the all-important doubles point throughout the Ivy League season.

With their 24-8 overall record (15-3 in dual matches), Kumar and Ermakov earned a spot in the doubles bracket of the NCAA tournament. After downing a Michigan State pair, the duo bowed out in the second round to a team from North Carolina. No. 112 Clayton also made the NCAA tournament in singles, but fell in first round.

Thankfully for Harvard, it will be able to rely on rising sophomores Alexei Chijoff-Evans and Aba Omodele-Lucien, whose trials-by-fire against top early-season competition gave each the confidence needed to run the table at season’s end.

The duo crushed its opponents with increasingly resounding victories en route to seven-match win streaks for each in singles.

Even more promising, the freshmen showed the composure to take home the Crimson’s only two NCAA points against Texas Tech.

“Aba and Alexei kept growing as players throughout the year,” head coach Dave Fish ’72 said. “It was good that they had a chance to come in, play a bit lower in the lineup, and get some confidence.”

But without a doubt, what made this year’s team special, and what will make or break next year’s squad, is each player’s selfless attitude. Fish varied the lineup more than in most years, and rather than complaining about the changes or being insulted by the “demotion,” the players fought harder.

“This year, guys weren’t selfish,” Nguyen said. “Whatever the lineup was, guys didn’t really care. We have a great time together. Winning just helps make it sweeter.”

The next step for Harvard is to make it to elite status in college tennis.

“When you get to the next level, everybody’s tough, everybody’s in good shape, everybody will run forever,” Fish said. “There are certain points where you’re climbing a mountain, and you have to jump over a crevasse, and it’s dangerous and you’re nervous.”

For Clayton and crew to fulfill their promise, jumping that crevasse will have to become par for the course.

—Staff writer Jonathan B. Steinman can be reached at steinman@fas.harvard.edu.