In April 2002, Brown defeated the Harvard men’s tennis team in Providence, R.I. and secured the Ivy Championship with a perfect 7-0 division record—the Crimson went 6-1. And in April 2003, Harvard defeated Brown in Cambridge and secured the Ivy Championship with a perfect 7-0 record—the Bears went 6-1.

It is now April 2004. Both teams are 4-0 in Ivy competition and will face off this afternoon—in Providence—almost certainly playing for the Ivy Title.

So is the No. 22 Crimson (14-6, 4-0 Ivy) worried about the recent home-and-away history it shares with No. 50 Brown (16-4, 4-0)?

“Not really,” said Crimson co-captain Cliff Nguyen. “This year, we played away [on the road for] almost all our matches, and we’ve done pretty well, so I’m not really concerned.

“I think we’re definitely looking to make their courts our home.”

But what about the cancellation of the Cambridge-to-Providence bus which was supposed to shuttle Crimson fans to the match? How will Harvard be able to make Brown’s courts its own without fans?

“Certainly, to have supporters come with us is a huge equalizer,” admitted junior Jonathan Chu. “[But] a lot of our real diehard fans are going to be driving their own cars and coming with us, so it’s not like we’re going to be deserted by our fans.”

And, adds senior Chris Chiou cautiously, “we don’t want to build it up too much. It can kind of backfire if you build it up too much.”

Today, the 2004 Ivy title will almost certainly be decided. Though both squads still have Dartmouth and Yale on tap before the end of the regular season, neither the Bulldogs nor the Big Green is expected to prove much competition.

Rather, it is more than likely that one team, either Harvard or Brown, will finish league play undefeated, while the other suffers a single loss—Friday’s. Somebody has to lose.

“To me, this is just great preparation for the NCAAs,” Harvard coach David Fish ’72 said in reference to the NCAA berth his team would earn with an Ivy crown. “Arguably [there will be] really tough conditions for us, but it’s exactly the kind of circumstance we want to be in to prepare for an equally challenging NCAA.

“It’s great there’s another really good Ivy team,” he added. “We’ve got a really good rivalry with Brown and expect it to continue, so I think everybody’s really looking forward to it.”

Including Brown.

Bears junior Nick Goldberg views the match as a golden opportunity for his team.

“I think that it’s going to be nice to play them at home,” Goldberg said, “and we know that they have a strong team and they’ve had a great year so far, so we really have nothing to lose.”