W. Tennis Blanks USF To Open 2003

The Harvard women’s tennis team sprung into the spring season with a 7-0 drubbing of South Florida in Tampa yesterday. The competition was a triumphant return to action after the usual layoff between the fall and spring seasons.

“Any win is a good win,” freshman Melissa Anderson said. “And since we won convincingly individually, it was a great boost for our confidence.”

The Crimson, who traveled to Florida six days ahead of time to begin training, entered play as the preseason No. 39.

“It was pretty tough at first since it was cold and they didn’t have an indoor court,” Anderson said. “We were outside conditioning, but it was good to get back into training.”

Captain Sanja Bajin partnered with sophomore Alexis Martire to jump-start Harvard’s effort with an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles. Martire currently holds the No. 64 national ranking.

The doubles point was clinched by freshmen Anderson and Eva Wang at No. 3.

Having secured the early 1-0 lead, the Crimson cleaned up the Bulls with a 6-0 singles sweep.

Sophomore Courtney Bergman, Harvard’s highest ranked player at No. 31 in the nation, easily outpaced USF’s Fabiana Taverna in a 6-0, 6-1 win. Classmate and No. 64 Susanna Lingman followed suit with a 6-1, 6-0 victory in second singles.

Martire completed the sophomore domination by cruising to a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3.

“Everything’s there,” Anderson said. “We just need to put in more hard work and practice [for the rest of the season].”

After the convincing beginning to the more competitive spring season, the outlook is bright for the Harvard squad.

“I’m very excited,” Martire said. “Everyone worked as hard as they could in the offseason, and I think that the team coupled with the coaches should do a very good job.”

The Crimson will travel to the Minnesota Classic this weekend to face No. 21 Washington on Saturday. Harvard will then square off against either Minnesota or Marshall on Sunday.

—Staff writer Brenda E. Lee can be reached at belee@fas.harvard.edu.