Harvard men's tennis coach Dave Fish had a pretty nervous summer. He had already lost two of his top players, Philip Tseng '98, and Tom Blake '98, to graduation. Meanwhile his best remaining player, sophomore James Blake--Tom's brother--was spending the season trying his hand at professional tennis.

Fish knew that Blake, a strong pro prospect, might decide to make this his full-time job. At the very least, he would take the fall semester off.

Then about two weeks ago, Assistant Coach Peter Mandeau talked to Blake on the phone and received the best possible news for Harvard tennis--James Blake is coming back.

"It's really great to have him back for the full year," Fish said. "He changes the level of the team."

Blake decided to forgo an autumn of grinding it out on the professional circuit and will play for Harvard for the entire 1998-99 season. His summer experiment took him to all levels of professional competition--satellite, challenger and the prestigious ATP tour.

Blake even came within one match of qualifying for the U.S. Open. Still, he decided to return to Harvard.

"I wanted to come back because I thought I was close to being at the next level, but not quite there," Blake said. "One more year of college tennis will make me a much stronger competitor next year."

Blake showed just how far he was from that level during Open qualifying. In the first round he valiantly battled No. 144 Wolfgang Schranz to a 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 victory despite cramping in the third set. Blake required intravenous fluids after the match. The next day, he cruised to an impressive 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 343 Luis Vosloo setting up a final match with former top-15 player David Wheaton.

"I played well in [my second] match," Blake said. "I felt like I had a lot less pressure on me after I won that first match."

Against Wheaton, Blake opened with a flurry, immediately going up two breaks to take a 3-0 lead in the first set. Wheaton's experience proved too much for Blake to overcome, however, and he came back to grab the next game en route to a victory in straight sets.

"I always felt like I was in the match," Blake said. "But he was Just a little bit better on big points. That's how I often beat my opponents; he was just better at it."

The U.S. Open culminated an entire summer during which Blake met the world's best and fared quite well. At the satellite level he defeated Stanford's Mike Bryan, as well as No. 484 Raviv Weidenfeld and No. 350 Alex Reichl. On the ATP circuit, he competed at the tennis classic in Newport, R.I., where he lost in three sets to the quirky Jeff Tarango, currently ranked No. 62, and narrowly lost No. 145 Alex Radulescu, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the first round of qualifiers at the Pilot Pen International Tennis Tournament.

"The most important thing for [Blake] is that he gets to play people at or above his level," Fish said. "He'll gain experience and figure out how to beat them."

One immediate lesson Blake learned is that he must improve his fitness level. The increased range of ground strokes, heavier topspin and more dynamic second serves of the pros clearly took their toll on Blake's body. Twice during ATP competition--during the U.S. Open and Pilot Pen--Blake had to be treated for cramps.

Rising to that fitness level will not become any easier here at Harvard.