The men’s tennis season kicked off last Wednesday with an emphatic shut out win at home against the Cadets of Coast Guard Academy. Every singles player and doubles position won in straight sets.

Particularly impressive were wins by Mike Frank ’08 at third singles and Jaafar Rizvi ’09 at fifth singles, who both posted 6-0, 6-0 victories, the third doubles tandem of Frank and Max Schenkein ’08, with an 8-0 victory.

Matt O’Connell ’09, who won the fourth singles match 6-2, 6-1, recognized the tendency of teams to relax after such victories.

“We came out with a solid win against Coast Guard just showing that we are all business this season, but we are going to play teams a lot better than Coast Guard,” O’Connell said. “So our win over them was a good start but didn’t really put us under pressure just yet.”

The team followed Wednesday’s performance with success against four opponents at the Wheaton College Invitational on Sunday. A field of four teams – Wesleyan, Wheaton, Colby-Sawyer, and Holy Cross – competed throughout the day. The singles contingent of O’Connell and Rizvi found success against Colby-Sawyer winning both their first matches but both falling to Wheaton opponents later in the afternoon and finishing 1-1.

The Cards also had two teams competing in doubles, including sophomores Paul Gerdes ’09 and Alejandro Alvarado ’09. Gerdes and Alvarado, the cardiac kids, gave heart-pounding performances winning their first match in the first doubles bracket with a 7-6, 7-5 first round victory, and came from behind to defeat a strong Wheaton opponent in the finals by a 0-6, 6-3, 10-8 victory. Likewise, the second doubles team of Frank and Schenkein also won their bracket at second doubles.

“Our doubles teams really played well against some serious competition. Everyone, especially Paul and Alejandro, played well,” Schenkein said. “Mike [Frank] and I are playing solid tennis now and our lineup is in good shape as we head into our season.”

So far this season, the team has been plagued by two key injuries to tri-captain Jack Rooney ’07 and Pauri Pandian ’08, both of whom will most likely be out of competition until the spring. The loss of such key players was initially a worry, but other players have stepped up into larger roles as the team has adjusted to competing with some new individuals.

“It has been tough with two starters from last year out for the fall and Max Kates ’06 [having] graduated,” commented Schenkein. “There have been some sophomores, Jaafar, Matt, and Graham [Immerman ’09] that have really stepped up and filled the shoes of those guys. We have a very deep team and almost anyone could play anywhere.”

The men’s tennis season continues with a rigorous schedule of two matches a week through Oct. 12. Notable match ups include trips to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bates College and the three-day ITA Regionals held at Williams College on Sept. 26 and the following weekend Sept. 29-30.

Overcoming adversity may be the theme of the tennis season thus far, but depth and new faces stepping into starting roles are the hope for the near future.

“Despite our team not being fully healthy, we have so much talent throughout the roster that we can play competitively at every position against any team,” said O’Connell.