Tennis Rampant

The Harvard men's and women's tennis teams were both undefeated in the Ivy League this spring. The women (19-4, 7-0 Ivy) had the best winning percentage (.808) and most wins (21) in the history of the program. At season's end they were ranked number 14 in the nation, their highest ever, up from number 56 last year. They upended the two-time defending Ivy champions, Pennsylvania, 6-1 to clinch the Ivy title and hand Penn its first Ivy loss since the spring of 2000. The women then defeated Oklahoma State, 4-1, and upset Arizona, 4-3, in the NCAA tourney. Their season ended with a 4-0 loss to the defending national champions, Stanford.

The men (19-9, 7-0 Ivy) captured their twelfth Ivy title in the last 15 years. The showdown at the end of the Ivy season pitted the thirty-ninth-ranked Crimson against forty-second-ranked Brown. Harvard triumphed, 5-2, and then upset seventeenth-ranked Virginia Commonwealth, 4-3, in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to sixteenth-ranked Alabama, 4-0, the next day.        

Click here for the July-August 2003 issue table of contents

Most popular

This is How Universities Die

Higher ed thrived in Berlin and Beijing. Then government stepped in. 

Harvard President Responds to Secretary of Education

Alan Garber outlines steps the University has taken, and emphasizes compliance with the law.

FAS Dean Outlines Preparations for Loss of Federal Funding

“To preserve our mission, we must act now,” Hoekstra says at faculty meeting

Explore More From Current Issue

Jessica Shand—Math and Music at Harvard

Jessica Shand blends math and music.

Children's Books from Ann Kim Ha

Ann Kim Ha’s poignant children’s books

Harvard Percussionist and Composer Jessie Cox

An experimental percussionist-composer pushing the limits of music