CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard men's tennis team will host its first tournament of the New Year when Fordham and Marist come to the Murr Tennis courts this weekend. The Crimson will compete in an individual tournament with the Rams and the Red Foxes running through Jan. 20-23.

The Particulars
Harvard opens its 2012 slate hosting Fordham and Marist at the Murr Tennis Center Jan. 20-23. The three squads will compete in an individual tournament.

Last Time Out
Harvard last played on Nov. 4, when the team traveled to Williamsburg, Va. to compete in the William and Mary Fall Invite. Alex Steinroeder led the Crimson, finishing 2-0 in the singles flight, while teaming with Alistair Felton and earning a 2-0 mark in doubles action.

Three other Crimson competitors joined Steinroeder in the undefeated category as Henry Steer, Denis Nguyen and Felton posted a sterling 5-0 record. Senior captain Davis Mangham also recorded a singles-competition victory going 1-1 during the tournament.

Scouting The Competition
Marist
The Red Foxes wrapped up a fall schedule that saw it compete in tournaments at Brown and Columbia, the USTA Collegiate Open and faced division opponents Rider and and Siena. Marist most recently had three players compete at the ITA Northeast Regional event held in New Haven Conn. Harvard's Denis Nguyen proved to be too much for Joris Van Eck defeating him 6-2, 6-3 while team "Nguyen" (Denis and Andy) defeated a Marist duo of Will Reznek and Lorenzo Rossi 9-7.

Fordham
The Rams wrapped up its fall season going a perfect 6-0 in dual meets defeating Siena, St. Peter's, St. Francis, La Salle, Wagner and NJIT. Kuba Kowalski, Mischa Koran, and Srikar Alla competed in the ITA Northeast Regional event to cap off the slate. Kowalski and Koran advanced to the round of 128 before falling to Stony Brook's Francis Bertrand and Cornell's Quoc-Daniel Nguyen, respectively. Alla, meanwhile, fell in the first qualifying round. The doubles team of Alla and Kowalski lost to Princeton's Augie Bloom and Dan Davies in the round of 64, 8-4.

Looking Back
While Harvard looks to its spring schedule, it is safe to say that the Crimson had a successful fall campaign. The Crimson went 56-45 in singles competition and 26-10 during doubles matches. The highlight of the 2011 fall schedule was the team of Alistair Felton and Casey MacMaster advancing through the ITA Northeast Regionals falling just short of capturing the doubles crown in the championship match.

Fresh Perspective
Harvard's roster has undergone a youth movement in 2011-12. After watching graduating seniors Alexei Chijoff-Evans '11 and Aba Omodele-Lucien '11 move on, the Crimson has an infusion of young talent on it's roster. The class of 2015 secured a 25-18 singles mark between the five players and have gone 17-10 in doubles play.

Stein-ROLLING
As has been the case with many freshman this season Alex Steinroeder has been impressive to watch through the team's fall slate. Stienroeder accrued a singles record of 8-4 and a doubles mark of 5-5. Steinroeder also added a individual tournament win to his resume when he defeated teammate Denis Nguyen at the Harvard Halloween Invite, 6-2, 7-6.

Nguyen Baby Nguyen
Freshman Daniel Nguyen was also one of the Crimson's most successful players during the fall schedule. The Anaheim, Calif., native posted the team's best singles record going 11-3.

Felton and MacMaster Ranked
In the latest edition of ITA rankings, posted on Jan. 3, the doubles team of Alistair Felton and Casey MacMaster were recognized as the 45th ranked team in the country. The tandem advanced to the ITA Northeast Regional finals and has recorded a 5-2 record as a duo.