Tennis Team Crushes Amherst, 9-0, To Launch Busy Weekend Schedule

The Harvard tennis team swept by a weak Amherst squad yesterday, 9-0, to start a long weekend which should bolster the team's record to eight wins against only two losses.

The Crimson faces Army this afternoon and Cornell tomorrow, both on the home courts, before playing Yale at New Haven on Tuesday.

Yesterday everyone advanced effortlessly in straight sets. Number one Harris Masterson defeated Tom Ryan 2-0, default; Ken Lindner beat Bob Blood 6-2, 6-0; John Ingard and Tom Loring won by identical 6-0, 6-2 scores; Randy Barnett won 6-1, 6-1; and Chris Nielson crushed Richard Wolff 6-0, 6-0.

"We all have our confidence now, having won seven matches in a row since the first weekend," Lindner said.

The tennis players will have nicer weather today and tomorrow than the dismal drizzle which forced them indoors yesterday. But the switch won't help the Crimson.

"We'll have a little trouble adjusting to the slow clay after playing indoors for a couple of days," Lindner said.

Army is usually one of the tougher teams in the East but are weaker than usual this year. "They still can't be discounted because they fight hard and won't give up easily especially on clay," Nielson said yesterday.

Army Can't Compete

Army doesn't have the personnel this year to compete with Harvard's outstanding players. Earlier this week, sophomore Harris Masterson defeated National Indoor champion John Adams of Penn in three exciting sets.

Harris seems to have found the winning groove and will be the top contender in the Northeast Intercollegiates next weekend.

Against Cornell on Saturday, Masterson will face Dick Dugan, defending two-time Eastern singles champion who has a 6-3 record so far this season. Dugan may be trouble but the Cornell squad lacks the depth to compete with the Crimson.

Doubles team Bill Babcok and Jim Esserman displayed that depth yesterday moving up to play the Lord Jeff's number three doubles team and defeating them handily 6-0, 6-2. The number two doubles combo Nielson-Ingard also romped 6-0, 6-2 while Masterson and Lindner rested after being given a default due to the illness of Amherst's Tom Ryan.

The Intercollegiates at Amherst will not provide a rematch of the Harvard defeats to Columbia and Princeton on the first weekend of the season because the upcoming tourney only includes teams from the Northeast.

"It's really too bad because we are on par with Princeton now even though Columbia is clearly still the best team in the league," Nielson said.