We got a good draw at the ECACs, drawing 4th seeded Harvard in the first round. We were confident we could take them, especially since we were playing well up to this point and they have not looked that impressive. We were ready for some revenge, and also to beat one of the transfers from our team to theirs last year to prove to them that Brown tennis is looking very strong this year. We started off pretty strong, but they matched our intensity. Brandon and I lost at #1 doubles, in front of my mom :), 8-7 (7-4) in a tightly contested match. They were the regional champs but we were right there with them. As for the 2 n 3s, they lost in pretty tight matches as well, so we got swept to start the match. However, in the singles, we had three guys win and they had 2 guys beat us, at 1 and 6. It was down to Tommy D, at #4 who came back from a 4-0 deficit in the second to extend the match to a deciding third, which would also decide the dual meet because we were locked at 3 all. Unfortunately, Tom understandably didn’t have enough in the tank, battling sickness all week as he eventually fell 6-3 in the third. It was a bit of a disappointment and a shock but we needed to bounce back to play Columbia tomorrow, the defending champs. The next morning, I got to play my pal from back home, with whom I practiced with for an entire summer a couple summers ago and who was ranked with his partner as their #1 doubles team. Brandon and I came out firing, and although it was a weird feeling to play him in college, we both wanted to beat them. We shocked them with an 8-6 win and our #2s used that momentum to come back from a break down to win 9-7 and clinch the point for us !! Tommy D could not start today because he just got sicker over the night. Coach put me in at #6. We all came out intense, firing one another up. We won 4 of the 6 matches, losing at only 2 and 3 to clinch the match 5-2!! This was a big statement for us so we were excited about that although there were still things to improve. Brunoooooo! 🙂 Let’s keep this going boys!
College Tennis Alumni at the 2021 Australian Open – Part 1: Men’s Singles by Michal Kokta
February 23, 2021
With the first Grand Slam of the year winding down, I wanted to do a little introduction to the main draw players, who competed on the collegiate level before turning pro. This will be a short series of four parts: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles.
