This past week, the men’s tennis team suffered two heartbreaking losses at the hands of Amherst and Rochester, but pulled out a clutch victory on Sunday against Vassar.
Captain Max Kates ’06 provided the heroics against Amherst, almost defeating one of the top players in the country in a third set tiebreaker, while pulling out a gutsy victory at first singles against Vassar as he battled his opponent and a fever.
The team began the season with the match against Amherst, where Tallen Todorovich ’07 and Kates started off the match with a number one doubles win. Both players performed aggressively at net and the baseline. Coach Alrutz said that it was the best doubles match he had seen any Wesleyan team play.
Despite losses at two and three doubles to put the Cards down an early point, Kates set back out on his number one court to do his part. He started off the match losing the first set by one break at 4-6. He then rallied back, against all odds, and won the second set 6-4. Because of lost daylight the match was moved indoors at 3-1, when Kates was up a break. After the change of venue, the Amherst player broke back and sent the third set into a tiebreaker, where Kates lost after a hard fought battle.
“Max’s match against Amherst was an incredible testament to the kind of talent we have on the team,” said Jack Rooney ’07. “Max was playing against arguably one of the top five players in the league last year, and he was thoroughly beating this kid with his speed and powerful ground strokes. This was the best I’ve ever seen him play.”
Rooney also provided highlights as he bounced back from a set down to level the match at one set a piece at fifth singles, but was forced to retire due to an injury
Even though the Cards were defeated 7-0 against Amherst, the team realized that its level of play was not far from some of the top NESCAC teams.
“If you look at the NESCAC right now, our team is just a shade away from being considered among the elite,” said Pauri Pandian ’08. “We have the talent, it’s just a matter of going on court, day in and day out, and competing at the highest possible level. I’m expecting a run to start. We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
With only one day off to recuperate from the disappointing loss against Amherst, the tennis team headed back on the court to play Rochester last Saturday in a non-conference match.
Though Pandian and Rooney battled out and won their doubles match 9-8, the other two Cardinal doubles teams were defeated, and the Cards started the match down 1-0 entering singles play. The Cardinals evened the match at one all as Pandian annihilated his opponent at sixth singles without losing a single game, 6-0, 6-0.
Facing a 2-5 deficit in the first set, Mike Frank ’08 dominated his opponent for the rest of the match as he won 11 of the next 12 games for a win at fourth singles, leaving the Cards just two wins away from victory.
Rooney finished off his opponent 6-1, 7-5 to leave the Cards just one win from victory. Facing one of the biggest serves of any opponent this year, Paul Gerdes ’09 was overpowered 6-3, 0-6, 1-6.
Coming off of two tough losses, the tennis team bounced back with authority in a 5-2 Sunday victory over Vassar. The match saw the second doubles victory of the spring for Matt O’Connell ’09, as he teamed up with Kates for an inspiring win at first doubles.
O’Connell took the place of an injured Todorovich, mixing a combination of power and precision on his serve to throw the opposition into disarray. Pandian and Rooney also played high quality doubles as their victory at second doubles earned them the crucial points that eluded them in their previous two matches.
In singles, Gerdes, Rooney, and Kates all provided resounding victories at their respective singles positions without losing a set.
With the victory over Vassar, the tennis team will face several critical matches in the upcoming weeks, including matches against Hamilton and Colby.
“Against Hamilton, I’m confident we’ll cruise through the match,” Rooney said. “Hopefully the Hamilton match will be good preparation for the match against Colby, especially in doubles. Our doubles teams have the shots and the talent to win against any NESCAC team, but we still need to work out some strategy and find out what’s working for each team.”
Today the team takes on Babson at home at 3:30 p.m., before traveling to take on Colby and Hamilton this weekend.
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