An experiment: letting a freshman add to the Harvard Tennis blog

on the eve of our first event.

This first one is from freshman Tim Wu, of Ann Arbor, MI, making his first trip with the varsity to the Columbia Classic in NYC. In case you don't read the rest of this, join us next Friday at home for our match against William and Mary at 5pm at the Murr Center, and again on Saturday at 11:30am against Purdue.

"Thursday January 24, 2008 – 8:15pm

I am sitting in the hotel room at the Hyatt Summerfield Suites outside New York City, watching Youtube and listening to Colonel Clayton's impassioned commentary on the 2008 presidential election. I can't believe the guy watches MSNBC for fun. Maybe it's something you pick up when you get to his age.

Tomorrow, we kick off the 2008 season with a tournament at Columbia University. It took two injuries and the grace of god for me to be here, but here I am nonetheless, and let me say - I am pumped. We're finally near what we've been training all fall and winter for. I think I speak for all the freshman when I say that junior tennis was fun, but I'm ready to see what it's like when the big boys play. We've got an extremely talented team, and I really think we've got a chance to do something special. Starting tomorrow, we'll see where this takes us.

From NYC,

T-Wu"

Now from Dave Fish:
Just about everyone made it through today to the quarter finals of either the A or B draw. Dan Nguyen, Ashwin Kumar, Chris Clayton and Sasha Ermakov reached the quarters with wins today. Mike Kalfayan survived a 5-2 third set "disadvantage" and came back to win five straight games in a dramatic comeback. Likewise, our young author above was indeed pumped. He dropped his first set after having set point on his opponent's serve, but was unfazed and took the next two sets. Aba Omodele-Lucien likewise made the quarters. Will Guzick showed some exam rust however, so will be looking to gain some momentum in the B draw consolations.

In doubles, Kumar and Ermakov reached the semi's. Nguyen and Omodele-Lucien teamed up for the first time, and lost 9-8, while Guzick and Clayton lost to Yale's #2 team in a close match. Wu/Kalfayan won their first round, but went down in the second.

Lots more action tomorrow.