Jeff Kahntroff/Student LifeThe only thing preventing the Washington University men’s tennis team from continuing their impressive performances and extending their win streak thus far is the conclusion of the fall season.
Although practices are no longer mandatory and conditioning will be the responsibility of each player, there may in fact be a little more organized tennis in the team’s future before the spring season emerges.
Two weekends ago, several players, including seniors Max Schlather and David Genovese, sophomore Shaul Yecheskel, and freshmen Neil Kenner and Ari Rosenthal, traveled to DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana to compete in the 2002 Intercollegiate Tennis Associate (ITA) Men’s Division III Central Regional Championship.
Last year, then-sophomore Brian Alvo upset one seeded player after another in route to capturing the singles championship, the first in the history of WU men’s tennis.
Last year’s doubles teams did not enjoy the same success -both teams lost in the first round. With Alvo unable to compete because he is studying abroad this semester, it was up to the extremely talented new crop of freshmen to step in, and that they did.
Kenner and Rosenthal entered the tournament ranked fourth, not too far behind fellow teammates Schlather and Yecheskel, who were ranked second overall in the doubles competition. Following a weekend of impressive play, both WU teams found themselves in the semifinals on Monday, each facing their toughest opponents yet.
Schlather and Yecheskel were pushed to three sets against an unranked team from Kalamazoo, but dominated 6-1 in the third set to advance to the finals. In their semifinal match, Kenner and Rosenthal overwhelmed the number one doubles team of the tournament, also from Kalamazoo, 6-2, 6-4, to earn the right to face their WU associates in the final. After last year’s doubles teams could not advance past the first round, to have not one, but two doubles teams battling for the championship title is an indication as to how far the team has progressed in the off-season.
Three weeks ago, these WU teams met each other in the finals of the first annual WU Fall Tennis Invitational-Schlather and Yecheskel prevailed in a very close 9-7 final set. However, this time around, it was the freshman duo of Kenner and Rosenthal who upset their upperclassmen teammates in an even closer match, winning 7-5, 6-7 (2), and 6-3 in the third set.
“It’s really hard to get motivated to beat your own teammates, especially when you have really great team camaraderie like we do,” said Schlather. “We wanted to win with them instead of beating them. They played better as the tournament went on and it showed in the finals.”
With this win, Kenner and Rosenthal qualify for the Small College Tennis Championships to be held in Corpus Christi, Texas over fall break, October 17-20.
“Going into the regional tournament, Ari and I knew we could win, but to do so we thought we would have to play Max and Shaul in the finals,” said Kenner. “We give them a lot of credit-too bad they couldn’t get in too.”
Although this year WU did not repeat by winning the singles title as well, seventh ranked Schlather advanced all the way to the semifinals before losing to the top seed. Kenner fell in the quarterfinals, while Genovese lost in the third round. Overall, the players were happy with their performances.
“We wanted to go in and prove we were the best team there, and we did that. Nothing in the fall really matters, except to qualify and play in the National Indoor tournament in February,” said Genovese. “Hopefully our hard work will pay off and we will be invited.”
Before the start of the spring season, the top eight teams are invited to compete the last weekend in February, a feat not yet accomplished by a WU men’s tennis team to date.
“Our goal was to play well, finish ahead of Kalamazoo and leave no doubt in any of the coaches’ minds that we were the best there. If we don’t make it into National Indoors, that’s bulls-,” said Schlather.
The Bears wrapped up their fall season last Thursday at home, when they took on a Division II team from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Last season when these teams met, UMSL prevailed by a slight margin, 5-4. This year, however, the Bears came out strong, and including exhibition matches, swept UMSL 11-0. “They are a pretty solid D-II team, but even without one of our top two players (Alvo), we dominated. I think they were pretty surprised,” said Genovese.
“Despite the overall score, we all fought for every point. Even after we had clinched, no one let down-everyone wanted to win their matches,” Rosenthal said.
Now that the fall schedule is complete, it will be the responsibility of individual players to work out and stay on top of their games.
“We know what we have going-we have a great team, but the challenge will be to remain focused.seniors have to find jobs and the freshmen will be trying to figure out what they are doing with their lives,” Schlather said.
However, if the team’s fall performance is an accurate predication of what is to come in the spring, who knows, there may be a national championship looming at the end of May.