But then Bergman’s strength gave out.

Tulane’s Julie Smekodub—the third seed, defending champion and No. 23 in the nation—proved too much to handle after surrendering an early lead and the first set. Smekodub had coasted to the championship match, winning each of her previous matches in straight sets, including a 6-0, 6-0 victory in the semifinals.

“She was hitting really heavy balls,” Bergman said. “She’s definitely a good player.”

Smekodub earned her a second straight women’s title, 6-2, 7-5, and the distinction of being the only person to accomplish that feat in the tournament’s seven-year history.

“I definitely need to work on some things from that match,” Bergman said. “She hit a lot of looping balls that I would’ve liked to have stepped in on. I didn’t play as solidly as I would’ve liked to at all.”

More disquieting for the Harvard contingent than Bergman’s untimely defeat was the inability of any other singles players to advance beyond the second round.

Junior Alexis Martire—tournament sixth seed and No. 69 nationally—failed to win a single match, advancing courtesy of a bye before being easily upset by Northwestern’s Ruth Barnes 6-2, 6-1.

Sophomore and ninth seed Melissa Anderson began the tournament promisingly, crushing her first round opponent 6-4, 6-0. But she became bogged down in a difficult second round match, falling 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

“It was a really tough match and it was really tight,” Anderson said. “We were pretty much neck-and-neck the entire way. We actually had pretty similar game styles all around. But I’ve just come back from injury so my serve’s not working that well.”

Anderson wasn’t the only one hampered by lingering injury. Several players returning from last year’s team are still attempting to rest up after their lengthened post-season run.

“Most people are coming out of injury,” Anderson said. “We had a pretty long tough season last spring because of how far we went in NCAAs, so over the summer lots of people were trying to recuperate.”

The results in the doubles bracket, on the other hand, were far more encouraging as each Crimson pairing—with the exception of the Bergman-Lingman team—was defeated by a more highly ranked opponent.

The top seed in the draw, the co-captains coasted early on, losing just six games through the first three rounds.

“We didn’t play people that were that great,” Bergman said. “But we haven’t played together much.”

Aside from being apart over the summer months, Lingman was kept out of action for most of the off-season after undergoing surgery to remove ovarian cysts that later proved to be benign.