“She plays a very slow, steady pace and I play at a very fast pace, so her style runs counter to mine,” Wilkins said. “She takes you out of your rhythm.”
Junior co-captain Hilary Thorndike lost to Margot Kearney 9-4, 5-9, 9-4, 9-6 at No. 7. Kearney hit several balls that died in the back corners, knocking Thorndike off her game and forcing her to rely on playing boasts.
“That happens sometimes,” Thorndike said. “If your shots aren’t falling, you can just get overwhelmed.”
“When she did get control, she played perfect drop shots and perfect length,” said Hendricks, who refereed the match. “But it was hard for her to get there.”
Freshman Audrey Duboc and junior Alexandra Johnson also lost in four games at No. 3 and No. 9, respectively.
“Even though it was 8-1, if you look at the individual scores, a lot of them were four games,” Hendricks said. “It doesn’t mean we got crushed. It just means we didn’t pull out a couple of the points that kind of made the difference.”
—Staff writer Alan G. Ginsberg can be reached at aginsber@fas.harvard.edu.