It was a good summer for Harvard athletics in England. Everyone knows of the triumph of the lightweight crew in the Thames Challenge Cup competition at Henley. Equally impressive, and also deserving of publicity, was the tennis team's joint victory with Yale in the Prentice Cup matches against a combined Oxford-Cambridge squad.

The cup matches were the climax of a 10-week trip to Great Britain, a trip which included matches against many English country clubs and the Royal Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Harvard-Yale team compiled a 15-3-1 record, with one contest rained out.

Making the trip for the Crimson were ex-captain Dale Junta '58, Larry Sears '58, and captain-elect Ned Weld '59; joining them from Yale were Tom Freiberg, Gene Scott, and Jon Clark. The varsity's Tim Gallwey '60 went along as an alternate.

Most of the team members attempted to qualify for the championships at Wimbeldon, but only one, Scott, made the first round, where he was promptly defeated. The doubles team of Junta and Freiberg advanced to the second round before being eliminated.

Trip to Europe

The group then dispersed for a short while, most departing for whirlwind trips through the continent. The members met again at Wimbledon on July 4th, where they were given free tickets to the last two days of the tournament. They then attended the Wimbledon Ball, as guests of the All-England Club, which owns Wimbledon. The Secretary of the Club, Colonel MaCauley, made the arrangements for the entire trip in his capacity as a member of the Prentice Cup Committee.

While in London, the team visited the House of Commons, saw Winston Churchill and Big Ben, and attended three or four parties each week. The boys stayed at the homes of English families connected with tennis, and played at Wimbledon as honorary members of the All-England Club.

During July, the team took side trips to castles in the area, including a day of tennis and lunch with the Duke of Devonshire. Then came a Northern trip to Hill, Derby, Manchester, and Nottingham, with matches almost every day.

Describing an average match, Ned Weld said that "over there they don't play much singles." As a result, the match consists of nine doubles contests, with each team playing each of the opponent's teams. After the first two matches, there is a break for tea, Weld added.

Saw Cambridge, Oxford

On the way back from the North country, the team spent a day at Cambridge with its captain, Bob Hull, and then a day at Oxford with Dudley Wheeler. Weld's comment on the two bastions of higher education was "they're very impressive. I wish we had something like them over here."

Finally, on August 15th and 16th, the Prentice Cup matches were held at Wimbledon. The competition consisted of two rounds of singles and three of doubles. The Harvard-Yale squad retained possession of the Cup by a 15-6 score.

The only victories for the Britishers were registered by the doubles team of Hull and Michael Hand, winning all three of its matches; by Arvin Charanjiva, who downed Sears the first day and Scott the second, and by Hand, who defeated Freiberg, and then lost to Junta, the Harvard-Yale captain. The next Cup defense will be attempted in two years in the United States.

Tennis at Country Clubs

Discussing the general tennis situation in England, Weld said there are very few public courts but many inexpensive country clubs, most of which have only grass courts. It is for this reason that the English play mostly doubles, for with limited court space available at these clubs, it is more practical to have four on a court than two, Weld continued.

Not only can one play tennis at the clubs, but also many industries provide courts for their employees. "We played on the Rolls Royce grass courts," Weld noted. In general, he added, "they gave us a better fight in doubles all over England." Thus to prepare for the Prentice Cup singles, the team constantly played test matches with one another.

Weld concluded that the whole trip was "a wonderful experience for all of us," both the tennis and the socializing. The team was not always in peak condition because of the many parties, and, as this year's varsity captain remarked, "Often we'd meet their drinking team and then their tennis team."