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.”

Indeed, Harvard does have a strong team—in fact, an embarrassment of riches might be a more appropriate term.

During this season’s brief Ivy campaign, the Crimson has alternated between two Top-100 players—No. 88 Chu and No. 34 co-captain David Lingman—for the first and second singles spots. Additionally, the team has used eight different players to fill the remaining four singles spots.

Harvard has lost just five singles matches of the 24 played.

Additionally, the team has utilized seven different doubles combination in the three slots during Ivy competition, winning all four doubles points.

“I’ve been really pleased with just about everybody,” Fish said with a laugh when asked to pick the strongest performances of his team. “I think they’ve all done a good job.”

The same could be said of the Brown players though.

The Bears have not lost more than one dual match in a row all season. Like the Crimson, Brown has dropped just five of 24 singles matches and has secured all four doubles points.

“This [match] is so hyped…because of the rivalry that we’ve established over the last two and a half years,” Chu explained. “We’ve both performed better than the other schools in the league, and there’s always the need for a rivalry. It’s like the Yankees and Red Sox right now.”

But while the Sox are missing Nomar and the Bronx Bombers are still waiting for A-Rod to wake up, Harvard seems to have finally rounded out its lineup.

Junior Martin Wetzel, who had not played in months, returned to action last weekend and split his matches. Nguyen, who had been sidelined throughout the Ivy competition with a lingering back injury, declared himself “well enough to play.” And though senior Mark Riddell missed last Friday’s match, he played—and won—on Saturday.

But the Bears aren’t scared.

“I actually haven’t been checking the Harvard lineups—I haven’t been looking at their website recently,” Goldberg admitted, “but I’m sure they’ll do what they’ll do, so we’ve just got to go out and play whoever we play.”

Brown coach Jay Harris agreed, mentioning that “we look forward to taking the title back.”

As do the Brown fans, who will certainly outnumber the Crimson faithful in Providence today. But Harvard is paying that fact no mind.

“We’re going to perform the same way, with or without [our fans],” Chu promised. “And we know that their spirits are with us.