Harvard women's tennis coach Gordon Graham is having a tough time masking his excitement going into this season.
Describing himself as "cautiously optimistic," he talks about "being nervous about a few spots" and "waiting for the year to get started" before making any firm statements, but an underlying confidence in his voice's timbre is hard to dismiss: his team is stacked, and he knows it.
"I've got to admit, it's a little bit exciting to come into a season with this much depth," he says. "I think this is one of the deepest groups we've ever had. We should be very, very strong."
How strong? Let's figure.
Last year the team was the best it's been in years. It had acquired such potential phenoms as Jill Brenner, a nationally-ranked transfer student from the University of Florida; Gina Majmudar, a New Yorker so good in high school she earned a place in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd"; and Maryla Madura, a high school standout from Florida. Putting that talent to work, the team went 10-6 and came within upset losses to Princeton and Dartmouth of qualifying for nationals and garnering the league crown.
This season the team returns everyone but Brenner and junior Erica Cheng, both of whom have decided to take a break from the game, and brings in six more players with varsity potential. They are: freshmen Mylin Torres from Georgia, Geena Suh from Minnesota, Gabriela Hricko from Dover, Julia Kim from Maryland and Anna Chai from Maine (spring season only) and sophomore transfer student Rona Mayer from Israel. Graham regrets the departures, but emphasizes the future.
"I think Jill and Erica both did what is best for them at this point in their lives," he says. "They will be missed--they are both great players, but I think we will be able to compensate eventually. We've got some great new people."
Because fall practices got underway only on Friday, Graham refrained from making any definitive statements on the team's line-up. A few general comments can be made, however.
Majmudar will most likely assume Brenner's duties in the number-one singles position. The two were neck and neck throughout last year. Majmudar acquired a 13-4 record at the number-two position.
"She was a strong player coming in, and she improved a lot on top of that," Graham says. "She worked real hard. Every facet of her game is solid."
In addition to Majmudar, junior co-captain Kate Roiter, 10-1 at the number-three position, should give the team some mid-line-up firepower, along with Madura, 4-2 in the number-four position, and junior co-captain Kelly Granat, 6-3 in the number-five position. The order of these players is by no means set, though.
"We will have some healthy competition in practice, for sure," Graham says. "Nothing is for sure."
The same goes for doubles. Brenner's departure splits a Roiter-Brenner team which went 10-8 in number-one competition. That development muddles any prognostications about possible doubles match-ups and positions for the season.
"It sort of makes things complicated," Graham says. "We are just going to have to see what happens--who fits with whom, and who feels more comfortable at what position. That's what pre-season practices are for."
The team will have little time to prepare for the beginning of the season, however. It starts the season off with one of its biggest meets of the season, the Harvard Invitational on September 23-25 at Beren Tennis Center. The meet will feature North Carolina, Iowa, Tennessee and Notre Dame, the latter two of which are currently ranked in the Top 25.
If it was a football tournament, the Crimson would be road kill. As is, it at least has a fighting chance.
"It should be a great tournament for us," Graham says. "We're getting some of the best teams in the country to come up here and play. It will be a good chance to see what we've got."
And then, daring to put forth a hint of expectation, he adds: "I'm confident that we will do pretty well."
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