Men's Tennis Off to the West Coast

The Harvard men's tennis team escapes to warmer climates for the second straight weekend as it travels to the West Coast for the Gaucho Classic, hosted by the University of California at Santa Barbara.

The Crimson (11-3) will begin its spring break early when it takes on the winner of Boise State and the University of San Diego at the Knollwood Tennis Club in sunny Santa Barbara on Friday in the early afternoon.

Harvard is seeded second in the tournament behind No. 5 Southern Methodist University.

The Crimson retained its No. 16 place in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association national ranking, published on Tuesday, after it went 2-1 at the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Crimson defeated Boise State 4-1 on the opening day of the Classic, but fell to a streaking No. 37 Virginia 24 hours later. Virginia had upset No. 28 Alabama before defeating Harvard, and eventually fell to No. 5 SMU in the semifinals, 4-2.

In its final match at the tournament Harvard defeated Northwestern 4-2. The Crimson finished the tournament in fifth place out of a field of sixteen teams that featured six other squads in the top thirty.

Although the team retained its ranking in the ITA poll, and many of its individual players advanced in the individual rankings, the tournament was cause for some concern.

Harvard's biggest problem of the tournament first showed up in its dual meet against Virginia Commonwealth University prior to the trip to Alabama.

Playing at Old Dominion University, the Crimson dropped the doubles point as the team's No. 1 duo of sophomore James Blake and co-captain Kunj Majmudar was edged out 9-8 by VCU's top doubles team.

Though the team eventually won 5-2, the doubles trouble foretold what was to plague the team throughout the Classic.

In all three of its matches in Montgomery, Harvard lost the doubles point, conceding at least two of its doubles matches to squads of much lower rankings.

Blake and Majmudar lost both its first and second round doubles matches against Boise State and Virginia.

"I think that we got a little bit comfortable with the doubles play; we lost our focus and it began to show," Majmudar said. "We've focused on it in practice this week a lot so all should be well this weekend."

Harvard's No. 3 doubles team of junior John Doran and freshman Cillie Swart lost all three of their matches at the Classic.

Individually the team has been doing quite well. Blake retained his No. 1 singles place in the latest ranking. Earlier in the month he was named the ITA's player of the month for February.

Blake and Majmudar remained near the top of the doubles rankings, falling only one spot to No. 3 after their pair of losses over the weekend.

Majmudar made a big leap in the singles rankings from No. 47 to No. 38. The Staten Island, N.Y., native had suffered through a couple of weeks of sickness in late February and the early part of this month in which he struggled against lesser opponents.

After resting for a couple of weeks Majmudar is feeling well and is ready to go.

"There was a stretch where I dropped three of four," said Majmudar," but I have felt good for a while now and I am back on top of my game."

Co-Captain Mike Passarella and sophomore Scott Clark made their debut in the doubles rankings at No. 49.

The team has also been powered by a number of strong efforts over the past month which have provided crucial singles points at the lower positions.

Junior John Doran, the Crimson's No. 3 singles player, has won six straight matches in a streak that extends back to the team's meeting with No. 20 Tennessee at the National Team Indoors in mid-February.

Harvard's No. 4 singles junior Joe Green has won five of his last six matches. Although he lost in the Crimson's match against Virginia at the Blue-Gray, Green has been providing a nearly automatic singles point for much of the past month.

If the Crimson can rediscover the strong doubles play that powered the team before its recent lapse and continue its singles success it ought to advance deep into the tournament.

Of its possible first round opponents, No. 27 San Diego State and No. 54 Boise State, both offer the Crimson a chance to get off to quick start and establish a rhythm early in the tournament.

Harvard's biggest obstacle in the tournament will be SMU. The Mustangs took the Blue-Gray Classic by upsetting No. 2 Illinois, and its No. 5 ranking is the highest for the team in more than a decade.

After the Crimson completes its tour at the Gaucho Classic it will return to the Sunshine State to play in a dual meet against Pepperdine on April 3.