Finally, the men's tennis season at Harvard has begun.

While it's true members of the team have played at individual tournaments in Providence and Tulsa the last two weekends, those excursions were merely a prelude to this week's fall indoor Eastern College Athletic Conference Invitational Championship in Princeton, N.J.

This is the first true team competition Harvard will compete in.

In 1998, the Crimson left New Jersey with the title and an automatic "winner's berth" to the National Indoor Tennis Tournament. While Harvard is still seeded No. 1 due to last year's success, its prospects are much different this time around.

James Blake, the nation's No. 1 player last year, has gone pro. Also, the team graduated its co-captains, Mike Passarella and Kunj Majmudar.

This year's team consists mostly of younger players who have been waiting in the wings for a chance.

"Last year, we were the favorite, with our sights set high on national performance," said Harvard Coach David Fish. "We have a different team this year, a tight group of guys, and our expectations are fairly modest."

Fish made a point of mentioning the leadership of this year's co-captains, John Doran and Joe Green. Green has had to lead the team the past two weeks, however, as Doran was recovering from patella tendonitis. Fish expects him to play, but wouldn't mention in what capacity.