Gold Rush: 2003 Men's Tennis Preview
2/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 17, 2003
By Sam Walker
Wake Forest's 2003 men's tennis team will battle not only opponents but also complacency this year. A team comprised of three seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen entered the year ranked 23rd in the nation. Coach Jeff Zinn, in his seventh year at Wake Forest, has built the program into one that has been to the NCAA Tournament two consecutive years and three of the last five. The Deacons return four All-ACC players and five starters this year, so on paper, this looks to be one of the best seasons ever for men's tennis at Wake Forest. The key, however, may be that the Deacons not take success for granted.
"I think the key is that we've made it to the NCAAs the past two years, and now that's expected every year. And once you've reached that level you have to kick it up to the next level, which is to go deep into the tournament. I think this team has the capability to go deep into the tournament with a nice blend of veterans who have been around the block, put in the hard work and know how to win. So as a coach, I need to make sure we keep improving."
The sophomores and freshmen on the team are now watching how the upperclassmen conduct themselves and learning how to maintain a certain level of excellence. It's the same excellence the juniors and seniors and players before them have helped to build under Zinn's guidance. With the men's tennis program as healthy as it has ever been, Zinn wants his players to respect where they have come from in order to take the program to a new level of national prominence. One of the goals for this year's squad is to win an ACC championship. Zinn considers that part of the building process and something Wake Forest needs to add to its collection of accomplishments. The Deacons advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament the past two years.
"It's a unique situation for us as players and coaches with five of the six guys returning from last year when we had one of the most successful years that Wake men's tennis has had," assistant coach Shawn Heinchon said. "As long as they keep disciplining themselves and work hard and stay hungry for the things they can accomplish, it could be real interesting. They could set all kinds of standards and all kinds of records for themselves and the team as well. The sky is really the limit. Sometimes what happens is when things just kind of fall into place, you relax a little bit and take things for granted. So we have discussed that really on a daily basis."
Junior All-ACC selection David Loewenthal won the singles draw at the ACC Indoors held at the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center on Jan. 19. Loewenthal defeated Duke's Ludovic Walter in straight sets, 6-3 6-4. Loewenthal and doubles partner Trent Brendon lost in the doubles final to FSU's Matt Cloer and Rodrigo Laub 8-3, but the Deacons finished the ACC Indoors with a strong showing.
Loewenthal is ranked 35th after compiling a 14-6 record in singles play this fall. Loewenthal finished the year with a 31-14 singles record and automatically qualified individually for the NCAA Singles Championship. He and Brendon are ranked 15th in doubles.
Senior Mike Murray returns ranked 109th nationally after going 16-6 this fall. He won three singles matches to qualify for the main draw of the Regional Championships and then won three more to advance to the quarterfinals, including an upset over then-ranked No. 37 Angelo Niculescu from South Carolina. Murray also won his singles flight at Southeastern Collegiate Invitational with four straight victories. Murray is ranked 15th in singles in the Mideast Region and is the emotional leader of the squad, according to Zinn.
Trent Brendon, a senior and returning All-ACC performer, is ranked 123rd nationally after capturing 16 singles wins. A singles finalist at the North Carolina Kickoff Classic, the Virginia Invitational and the Southeastern Collegiate Invitational, Brendon won three straight matches in qualifying play at the Regional Championships to advance to the singles main draw. Brendon finished last year with a 28-11 singles record and a 27-10 doubles mark with partner Loewenthal. The doubles team was ranked as high as 27th in the nation and is currently 15th in the region.
Senior David Bere became WFU's all-time singles victory leader with a straight set victory in the first round of the ACC Indoors. Bere has 90 career singles victories, breaking Stefan Dallwitz's 15-year-old record. Bere went 17-6 in the fall and teamed with Murray in doubles. Wake Forest's other returning All-ACC performer is sophomore Derrick Spice. He went 36-13 a season ago and was named the ACC Rookie of the Year. Spice went 6-4 in doubles during the fall and 4-5 in singles action.
"In certain years, there have been arguably some positions we've struggled at. I don't think that's an issue this year," Heinchon said. "This will be one of the few years that we match up well with everybody and will have the luxury not to worry about any certain position. We're going to have a very good player at No. 6, and that same guy could actually play (No.) 3 or 4. I don't envision the same guy playing the same position every time. And hopefully they'll push each other to get better."
Juniors Brian Murphy and Andrew Simpson bring experience to the team, and Mirko Ivanda is the team's other sophomore. Brett Ross and Liron Strauss are the Deacons' newcomers.
"I'm real high on our freshman Brett Ross," Zinn said. "Before his career is done at Wake Forest, he's going to be one of the best ever. He is just such a good athlete and has a lot of tools. He's just a real talented freshman." Zinn said. Ross will start playing in the lower singles seeds and could move up to the middle seeds at some time later in the season.
In doubles, Spice and Murray were split as a team. Zinn reorganized his doubles teams and matched Spice with Brett Ross and Murray with junior Andrew Simpson. "They're going to do fine," Zinn said. "We've really worked on our doubles to be more competitive this year." The Deacons will compete in a league that may have as much parity as it ever has. Duke, defending ACC champions North Carolina and Wake Forest are the preseason power teams in the league, but Georgia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, and Maryland could vie for the upper echelon in the ACC as well. N.C. State and Clemson factor into the equation, too, because Zinn and Heinchon both feel that on any given day one team in the ACC can beat the next.
"It's very fortunate we have five of those matches here at home," Heinchon said. "Teams that are six and seven are going to be just as tough as teams that are one and two. We'll probably have eight or nine teams nationally ranked, five or six make the NCAAs, and it just adds respect to the conference."
So with eight returning letterwinners and a solid roster from top to bottom, the Deacons have a unique opportunity to again incrementally raise the bar for the entire men's tennis program. A solid schedule will challenge a talented group, and opponents no longer can describe Wake Forest as an upstart team.
"We're not going to back down from anybody, but we're not going to surprise anybody this year," Zinn said. "Everybody knows how good we are and how good we have been, so we have to come out ready to play every time. This is a good conference so there's no breaks."
Players Mentioned
