By Liana B. BakerThe Daily Northwestern

Tonight’s match between No. 75 Harvard and No. 40 Northwestern in Cambridge, Mass. will no doubt be battle of the brains between two competitive teams. But for senior Christian Tempke, it’s a reminder that his tennis career is nearing the end of the road.

“It’s like how some people get nervous when they’re going to graduate,” Tempke said. “They think ‘oh my god’ in three or four months, everything is going to be different.”

The economics major from Wentorf, Germany said that next year he has a job in New York in investment banking. While he said he was excited for his career, his voice dropped when he acknowledged that his future would not be “tennis intensive.”

“This is the end of the tunnel,” Tempke said, “the last time I get to play competitive tennis.”

NU will have three key players in the line up graduating this year: Tempke, Matt Christian and Willy Lock.

Torricelli announced in November that two players signed their letters of intent to join the team next season: Andrew McCarthy from Cincinnati, and Peter Rispoli of Naples, Fla.

“We’ll have a new team next year and a new look,” Torricelli said.

But there’s nothing much that’s wrong with NU’s old look. The Cats are 4-3 this season and have their eyes on beating the Crimson, one of the top teams in the Ivy League.

Tempke remembered that one of Harvard’s top players, Ashwin Kumar was a threat with his unconventional playing style.

“He runs to the net a lot,” Tempke said. “He doesn’t stay back at all, even on your serves. He doesn’t give any rhythm to the matches.”

The Crimson’s second best player, No. 93 Chris Clayton was recruited by NU, but opted for Cambridge instead.

Torricelli said NU should not be fooled by Harvard’s low ranking because at this point in the season, rankings don’t mean much. He cited unranked Wisconsin’s recent upset over No. 10 Miami last week as an example.

NU came out a little flat at the beginning of last Friday’s doubles’ match against Arkansas and could come out more intense at the beginning of matches, Torricelli said. Tempke said the team was working on it.

“I think we made it a part of practice where everyone comes out loud on the court,” Tempke said. “It’s an individual sport but in college you play as a team and you have to encourage and yell at your teammates.”

Reach Liana B. Baker at [email protected].