Keep Your Eyes on Men's Tennis

On a campus with the most varsity sports in the country, it is easy to overlook the achievements of certain teams. For example, let’s take a random team—call it Harvard team X—and let’s look at what it’s done in the past couple seasons.

Team X won an Ivy League title last year. A solid start in and out of the conference buoyed expectations for a team that people didn’t expect to be better than last year’s squad.

If you think Team X is Harvard football, close, but no cigar.

In the last two years, Team X made a historic entry into the top 25 and rode a wave of momentum to upset a top-25 team in regular season tournament play. The 2012-2013 version of Team X has only one main senior contributor, with freshmen and sophomores carrying the team.

Team X won its first five conference games of this season and its biggest conference rival is Princeton. The last time it played in the NCAA end-of-season tournament, it upset a big state school in the first round. The easy answer here might be Tommy Amaker’s squad, but this isn’t another men’s basketball column.

Team X is actually men’s tennis. Coach Dave Fish has built a dominant team in 2013, one that is worthy of your full support as the calendar turns from April into May.

There are plenty of storylines to choose from with this team. Currently on a 12-game winning streak, the team has a good chance to finish the Ivy League season undefeated and win the league outright. Last spring, the team graduated four seniors that led the team to a second round loss in the NCAA tournament; nine of the twelve players on this year’s roster are either freshmen or sophomores. The team’s one senior, Andy Nguyen, has the best record on the team at 22-7 and is part of the team’s second best doubles lineup. More importantly, Nguyen has stepped up when the team needs him most, winning 75 percent of his matches when asked to play at the second or third line.

The team’s diverse playing styles means there is something for everyone to like. Sophomore Shaun Chaudhuri grinds down opponents from the baseline and covers the entire court with extraordinary speed. Freshman Kelvin Lam, already a key contributor, attacks with rocket forehands, deft volleys, and crafty net play. For fans of quick points and big serving, the team’s doubles play—which has improved drastically over the course of the season—is superb. Junior Casey MacMaster and sophomore Denis Nguyen run like a well-oiled machine, having won 13 of their 15 matches together, including all contests during the team’s 12 game winning streak.

The team only has two matches left in the regular season, but could be prepared for a long tournament run. Sitting at number 22 in the country, the Crimson will likely be favored in their first round match and have an outside chance of being favored in their second. Being dominant at the doubles position means that Harvard only has to get a split in the six singles matches to get the win, another huge advantage for the team.

Living in the relative obscurity of the Murr Center, which doesn’t have the glitz and glamor of Harvard Stadium or even Laivetes Pavilion, it’s easy to ignore the achievements of this team. But for a team that has been just as, if not more, successful than Harvard’s major two sports, it’s time to start paying attention.

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at davidfreed@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @CrimsonDPFreed.