The Rice Thresher

Location: http://the.ricethresher.org/sports/2007/09/21/men_tennis_struggle

September 21, 2007 > Sports > Men’s tennis struggles to keep pace in season opener

Men’s tennis struggles to keep pace in season opener

By Casey Michel | Thresher Editorial Staff

All the greats — from Rod Laver to Roger Federer — had to work hard to achieve their greatness. This fact should console the men’s tennis team, which, although full of potential, struggled throughout last weekend’s Courtyard by Marriott Rice Invite at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.

The Owls will continue honing their skills at this week’s Baylor Invitational in Waco. Rice performed well in last year’s tournament, winning two consolation draws against stiff competition, including Texas Tech University and the University of Miami.

The team could not keep pace with their opponents last Friday. Dropping five of six singles matches, the Owls displayed the obvious rust that had accrued over the summer. Making his debut as an Owl, sophomore Chong Wang gave up an early lead to the University of Tulsa’s Ross Cunningham, falling 4-6, 7-5, 6-0. Senior Hoony Shin was the only other member of the squad who pushed his match the distance, before succumbing to Andy Connelly of Tulsa, 7-6, 1-6, 6-0. The lone win of the day came from sophomore Dennis Polyakov. Polyakov, the only sophomore who was on the squad last year, edged Southern Methodist University’s Adham el-Effendi, 6-3, 7-6.

Rice also failed to find their footing in doubles, winning only one of their matches. Freshman Vishnu Rajam and senior Jon Greenberg paired to defeat Jose Garcia and Jeremy Hubb of Prairie View A&M University, 8-3. In “A Flight” Doubles, Chong and Polyakov were overwhelmed by Louisiana State University’s Jan Zelezny and Sebastian Carlsson 8-3. Rounding out the doubles action for Friday, Shin and Zivojinovic fought tooth and nail with the Tigers’ Julian Gauthier and Kevin Dessauer before succumbing 8-6.

The Owls came out with far more energy Saturday, and it showed in the results. Singles still struggled, but Rice earned three doubles wins in their second day of competition. Rajam and Greenberg continued their early success, knocking off Lamar University’s tandem of Tyler Cobb and Devin Harley to advance to the “B Flight” Doubles final. The other Rice pairings also won their consolation matches, setting up a face-off for the “A Flight” ouble consolation draw.

Unfortunately, singles was not quite as successful for the team. While the team did earn one win - Greenberg’s 6-2, 6-0 victory over Harley - their hopes for a win in any draw were doused when Polyakov could not finish off Carlsson, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Assistant coach Efe Ustundag (Baker ‘99) said his team looked lackadaisical in their first day of action, but came out better on the following day.

“It didn’t like we were playing a collegiate tournament,” he said. “It looked like were just, you know, chilling in Galveston on the beach. [But] after the first day, the guys responded. Not necessarily production-wise, but by at least showing some more heart and character, on and off the court.”

The final day of the Invite was more of the same for the Owls - a few wins interspersed with losses preventing them from achieving anything of note. Wang earned his first win in the blue and gray, dropping Harley with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat. Shin also produced his first success of the young season with his straight-set win over Andy Narido of Prairie View A&M. And for the first time of the Invite, teammates faced one another, with Rajam getting the better of Greenberg, 6-4, 6-3.

Just like in singles, teammates squared off in doubles. Shin and Zivojinovic prevailed over Chong and Polyakov, throttling the younger pair 8-1. And Greenberg would have to put any hard feelings amassed from this earlier defeat behind him as he partnered with Rajam in doubles. Unfortunately, el-Effendi and partner Darren Walsh got the better of the Rice pairing, winning 8-4.

Ustundag said his team needs to pick up the energy if they hope to compete in the upcoming tournaments, which will only get tougher.

“We have to fight till the end,” Ustundag said. “We have to fight with all we have, all three sets. [I] could have cared less if we had lost all the matches [last weekend], but not the way we lost all of them.”

End of article

Back to top