W. Tennis Hosts ITA Regionals; Top Seeds Move On

The Harvard women’s tennis team has already shown that it knows how to play on the road after spending the early part of the season away. Now as hosts of the Omni ITA Women’s Regional Tournament it is a chance to shine at home. The area competition is also the qualifying event for the National Indoor Championships, the nation’s premier indoor tournament, to be held in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 7.

Though only the finalists in the singles and doubles events will advance to the national competition, the Crimson was on its way to success before the tournament even started. Harvard qualified six players for the singles tournament—all in the top third of the 96-player field.

Sophomore Courtney Bergman, the defending singles champion and the second seed, is living up to her billing, as she advanced to the Round of 16.

Bergman and sophomore Susanna Lingman have advanced to the quarterfinal of the doubles event, along with the Crimson’s other two pairs.

“We’ve all fulfilled our seedings,” captain Sanja Bajin said.

Lingman and Eva Wang were ranked No. 5-8, and both have proceeded to the sweet sixteen. Lingman sailed through the first round with a bye and defeated American’s Katarina Kollarova 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the second. She faced her first seeded competition in No. 25 Alice Sukner of Marshall, but still pulled out a 7-5, 6-4 win in two sets.

Wang made it past Cornell’s Akane Kokubo 6-3, 6-3 in the second round, but fell to Amy Wei of William and Mary, seeded No. 17, in the next match, 6-2, 6-2. Wang is still in the running in the doubles event, with freshman No. 17 singles seed Melissa Anderson. The pair has advanced to the quarterfinal, though Anderson dropped from singles competition.

“I’ve been injured for two weeks and I didn’t know if it was going to hold up or not,” Anderson said.

Sophomore Alexis Martire joins her two teammates in the Round of 16 this morning, in a difficult match against No. 4 Danira Penic of Temple. Martire, the ninth seed, had a first round bye and beat Megan Morton of Penn State in the second round, 6-2, 6-2. Martire advanced further by defeating American’s Kristina Georgieva in the Round of 32.

Martire has also found success in doubles play, as she and Bajin are set to play in the quarterfinals today. They face the top-seeded Maryland pair, Delila Causevic and Emily Marker.

Bajin’s singles competition, where she was the No. 25 seed, was cut short in the Round of 32, as William and Mary’s Nina Kamp won 6-4, 7-5.

While playing host has advantages, the Crimson also pitches battles off the court as well, with Martire facing a 9 a.m. midterm before a singles match scheduled for 10:30.

“It’s just exhausting because there’s also an academic aspect of it considering we’re home,” Martire said. “It’s also fun watching your teammates and having a homecourt advantage. I’d rather have that than play light.”

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.