For the past three years, the Stanford women have been at the pinnacle of college tennis. They have reigned supreme with their three straight national titles — last year’s triumph was the fourth in five years. And from the looks of it, the Cardinal will continue to display their dominance in the upcoming season.

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Alvin Chow

Sophomore Matt Bruch led the freshman class for Stanford men’s tennis last season. This year, the men’s team welcomes three freshmen. The men’s and women’s tennis teams look to continue Stanford’s winning traditions in the sport in 2006-2007.

Despite graduating four seniors including All-Americans Alice Barnes and Amber Liu, Stanford returns six starters and brings in a talented freshman face.

“This year affords the opportunity for a lot of upward movement amongst our returning players, and they are all game for testing the higher positions,” said head coach Lele Forood of life without Barnes and Liu. “It will be a very competitive situation which will bring out the best in all of our players to compete at higher numbers.”

Freshman Lindsay Burdette looks to make an immediate impact on the Cardinal lineup. Burdette finished sixth in singles at the Girls’ 18-and-under Super Nationals and is currently the national junior champion in doubles.

Burdette will pair up with senior Anne Yelsey in the main draw of doubles when the season kicks off at the All-American Championships, to be held in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Oct. 5-8. Despite the lack of familiarity as a duo, the pair comes in fifth in preseason rankings and both players have more than their share of experience individually. Yelsey teamed up with Barnes and to form last season’s ITA National Doubles Team of the Year. That duo advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament where they fell to the Northwestern team, the eventual champions.

No. 11 Yelsey will also be competing in the main draw of singles of the All-Americans, along with No. 3 senior Theresa Logar and No. 20 junior Celia Durkin. Last May, Logar advanced to the semifinals of the singles draw of the NCAA Tournament before falling to the eventual champion, California’s Suzi Babos. Durkin and Logar will pair up to play in the qualifying rounds of doubles.

The rest of the Cardinal look to contribute to the team’s perennial depth as No. 34 junior Whitney Deason and No. 52 Jessica Nguyen will also be competing in the qualifying singles draw.

The season’s first tournament falls on the second weekend of school, but this does not faze the Cardinal.

“It’s always a challenge for us to come into such a big national tournament in the second week of school,” Forood said. “I’ll have to rely on everyone individually preparing themselves at home. Even though we barely get a week together they should still be up to being ready to compete.”

While the women’s team is only bringing in Burdette, the men’s team welcomes a larger incoming class consisting of three new freshmen. The Stanford men graduated two seniors in the spring, Jon Wong and All-American KC Corkery, leaving the incoming freshmen with big shoes to fill.

“[Both players] are going to be missed a great deal,” head coach John Whitlinger said. “KC’s a very talented player, and Jon is one of the greatest guys of all time. We have our work cut out for us, but [assistant coach] Dave Hodge and I really like the team we have.”

The three freshmen join up with the rest of the Cardinal squad and look to improve on last year’s results — a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Baylor in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Paul Morrissey of Ireland, Kevin Kaiser, a local from Saratoga, Calif., and Richard Wire, a lefty from England, comprise the incoming freshman class for the Cardinal.

“We’re really excited about the freshmen that are joining our team,” Whitlinger said. “I think they’re all very talented and going to add a lot. I can’t wait to get going and see where they all fit in.”

Wire will jump into competition immediately and pair with sophomore Blake Muller in the qualifying rounds of doubles in the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships, to be held in Tulsa, Okla. The qualifying rounds begin that Monday and Muller and Wire will be playing in the singles draw as well.

The members of the team who will not be traveling to Tulsa will compete in the Bronco Classic, in Santa Clara, Calif. At the Bronco Classic last fall, junior Phil Kao faced teammate Muller in the finals of the ‘A’ flight draw.

This year’s team looks as if it’s off to the right foot, as three of its players checked in to the Top 125 in the pre-season rankings.

“I think the depth of the team is as good as it’s been in a long time,” Whitlinger said. “There’s a lot of talent on this team and it’s going to be a dogfight.”