Take an undefeated team and add the 2005 ITA Regional Coach of the Year, plus an All-American captain and one of the best first-year classes to ever come to Brown, and what do you get? The Brown men's tennis team, eager for another sizzling season.
Last year, the team was undefeated in the Ivy League, winning its second league title in four years.
Although last year's co-captains, Nicholas Goldberg '05 and Adil Shamasdin '05, have graduated, the team has six returning players: co-captains Philip Charm '06 and Luke Tedaldi '06, Eric Thomas '07, Scott Blumenkranz '08, Saurabh Kohli '08 and Michael Scherer '08.
In addition, the Bears have added some new faces. Keep an eye on Dan Hanegby '07, a transfer student ranked No. 60 in the country, who comes to Brown after serving three years in the Israeli army. Brown also has four first-years: Noah Gardner '09, Sam Garland '09, Chris Lee '09 and Basu Ratnam '09. According to Head Coach Jay Harris, his newcomers were ranked one of the top 15 recruiting classes in the country.
With the number of rookies on the team, everyone has had to shift roles. Leadership this year will be found in Charm - who last season went 14-0 in Ivy competition, earning, along with Shamsadin, the first All-America honor in Brown men's tennis history - and Tedaldi, who Harris called "an amazing leader."
Luckily, the veterans are very used to switching roles. Last season, everyone played a variety of positions, but rather than finding the situation distracting or difficult, the players simply put their faith in Harris.
"He matches you up with someone you can play well against," Thomas said.
Thomas also had a stellar season last spring, going a perfect 7-0 at third singles, earning second team All-Ivy honors.
Tedaldi is also pleased with Harris' style. "I have a lot of trust in Coach Harris," he said. "(His approach) keeps people on their toes. It makes them put aside their egos and focus on the team."
While Ivy play makes up the bulk of the spring season, the fall tennis season is comprised of weekend tournaments. The Bears will kick off their fall season on Sept. 16 when they host the 20-team Northeast Intercollegiate - the largest men's college tennis tournament in the country, according to Harris.
"It's a good initial measuring stick for us," Harris said. "It will show us how together the guys are."
Following the team's only home competition until the spring will be the Cincinnati Invitational, featuring five teams that are ranked in the top 40, and the ECAC Championships, which will be held in Flushing, N.Y. - the site of the U.S. Open. The winner of the ECAC Championships will advance to the ITA Regional Championships.
Great results can be expected from a team as accustomed to winning as the Bears are, but even the most accomplished always have room for improvement. To that end, Harris said the team will be working on becoming a closer unit, getting fitter and playing smarter.
One thing that the Bears have not been concentrating on is the pressure that inevitably comes with having won two league titles in four years.
"We don't even think about that (pressure) very much," Harris said. "We're starting at square one, and we have a long way to go before we start worrying. It's so far away, it's almost impossible to even feel that."
Thomas agreed. "It's not pressure - it's a new dimension," he said. "The team is so different this year. We're coming together as one team again, in a new way."
And even if the players sense the faintest inkling of the expectations upon them, according to Tedaldi, "The pressure will only help us."
