With 41 varsity sports, more than any other college in the nation, and over 1,000 athletes, one would think that Harvard has more than its share of athletic opportunities.

But the number of junior varsity athletic teams barely reaches half that number, and even with such a high number of varsity sports, it's impossible to guarantee each student-athlete a spot. And what about those students who simply don't have enough time to devote to varsity athletics?

Though both the men's and women's varsity tennis teams won the Ivy League this year, there are no junior varsity squads. Instead, club tennis depends on both the Harvard Tennis Club, which is co-ed, and a fledgling Radcliffe Women's Tennis Club, a team that one woman sought to revolutionize this past year.

Captain Michelle Petrovic, a senior in Quincy House, turned around the Radcliffe Tennis Club, helping the organization to its first year of inter-collegiate competition, and increasing its roster to more than five times its original size.

A year and a half ago, the organization posted just 10 members on its roster. It was barely recognized as an athletic team by the Harvard Athletic Administration.

The team was not granted official court time for scheduled practices. In fact, players had to rise at the crack of dawn to take advantage of available court time at 7 a.m., a fact that could discourage many late-rising tennis aficionados.

The Harvard Tennis Club, however, did have official practice times, as they were able to reserve two hours on Sunday afternoons for weekly practices. As a coed organization, women were allowed to play, but never managed to compete competitively.

"While the Harvard Tennis Club did in name allow women to participate, in practice, the women never assumed laddered positions in this club because the men were physiologically stronger players," Petrovic said. "This fact deterred many women from playing club tennis at Harvard, and basically eliminated women's options for competing inter-collegiately outside of the varsity team."

With their options essentially narrowed down to either varsity-level tennis, or competing on a co-ed squad that barely allowed women to participate intercollegiately, many women athletes were frustrated, and understandably so.

This convinced Petrovic that something had to be done about the state of women's tennis at Harvard.

When Petrovic was elected captain of the club last January, she had two main priorities to focus on in the beginning: securing an official court time for weekly practices and increasing club membership.

"In terms of court time, after months of persistent effort, I was able to convince the athletic administration to grant us weekly Sunday afternoon practice time on courts reserved exclusively for club use," Petrovic said.

This practice time is not rigid, as players are given the flexibility to come and go as they please. Petrovic points out that while many athletes choose to practice as their schedule permits, many women faithfully attend practice every week and compete in all the club's matches.

Petrovic and sophomore Brook Wilkinson both cite the organization as an excellent way for student-athletes to compete, especially since the schedule is adaptable to basically anyone's time commitments.

"Practices aren't mandatory, so it easily fits in to your schedule," Wilkinson said. "People practice whenever they have the chance."