Jan. 7, 2002
The Wake Forest men's tennis team returns five of its six starters from a 14-11 squad that finished 43rd in the country, fourth in the ACC and went to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Head coach Jeff Zinn can't help but smile about the upcoming season with his experienced group of Demon Deacons.
"Of the previous five seasons that I have been here, this is the most excited I've ever been in the preseason," said Zinn, who begins his sixth year at the helm of the Wake Forest men's team. "We had a big, big-time fall. The guys played well, everybody is on the same page and luckily we didn't have any major injuries. We're on the right path and that is what I'm excited about. There is a lot of excitement amongst the team and the coaches. It all started from the end of the heartbreaking loss to Fresno State in the NCAA Tournament. I felt it and they felt it - that we are a good team, a really good team. We've started something and we're going to continue it for a long time."
A unique combination of experience and youth makes the 2002 Wake Forest squad dangerously good. With only one senior in the starting lineup, the Demon Deacons will mostly rely upon a proven junior class. Mike Murray, Trent Brendon and David Berč provide the backbone of the Deacon team after playing nearly every match in the last two years.
"We've never had that where the young guys have stepped up so quickly," Zinn said. "If you think about it, we're a junior-led team really. The juniors are the foundation of our team."
For a team that won 14 matches last year, ranked as high as 31st, finished 43rd, took fourth in the ACC, advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Championship and then made its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1998 and its second trip ever, Zinn does not expect the same results - he expects better.
"This team is better than last year's team so you have to set your goals higher," Zinn said. "The goals this year are realistically a top 30 ranking in the nation and definitely cracking the top 25 at some point in the season. Finishing in the top three of the ACC, the ACC is such a tough tennis conference, but being in the top tier is where we want to be. We want to be in the finals - we want to challenge for an ACC Championship. At the NCAA level we want to win a round. We want to be seeded higher than the team we face in the first round. Those are all goals that are realistic and attainable by the guys."
David Loewenthal comes off an impressive fall season in which he went 14-6 in singles play, advancing to the quarterfinals of the National Indoor Championships and earning a ranking of 30th in the nation going into the spring. A sophomore from Franklin Lakes, NJ, Loewenthal led the team in singles victories last year with 29 wins as a true freshman, tying for third place on the school's single-season victories record book. The trio of juniors, Murray, Brendon and Berč, won 72 singles matches between them last year and they have already won 31 this fall. Senior Justin Kaufmann, the number six singles ACC Flight Champion last year, had six ACC wins and 21 total victories. Sophomore Andrew Simpson, a key reserve last year is back and expected to contribute more this season. Freshman Derrick Spice jumped out to a 15-3 start this fall and is also expected to see lots of action this year.
On the doubles side, Wake Forest has seemed to have shored up the ever-changing doubles lineups used last season. Loewenthal and Brendon, who went 6-5 last year, went on a rampage this fall and put together a 13-3 mark already, earning a ranking of 48th in the country.
"I think that our doubles teams are a little more solidified this year than last year," Zinn said. "Where last year we were searching to get our doubles better, this year doubles is a strength of ours. Going into the season it will be strength and maybe not a detriment like it was last year. There were so many times last year where we had to come back and win it in singles, and we got pretty good at it, but it would be nice this year to have one point going into singles.
"Trent (Brendon) and David (Loewenthal) have kind of separated themselves from the rest of the pack this fall," Zinn continued. "With a 13-3 record this fall, they are nationally ranked, they believe that they are a good doubles team and that's half the battle. They work well together and they had a good year last year when we put them together in the second half of the year.
"Derrick (Spice) and Mike (Murray) really play well together," Zinn stated. "They play with similar styles and they can really blow somebody off the court if they're both clicking that day. So that is what I'm looking for in Derrick and Mike is that they really start gelling together.
"Justin and David actually had a very good second half last year," Zinn explained. "They won their matches at ACCs and against Fresno State in the NCAA Tournament, so they've had a lot of success. You put them at number three doubles and I don't see a lot of number three doubles teams beating them."
Nothing will come easy for the Demon Deacons with the kind of schedule they have to play. Wake Forest starts the season with three away matches played in the tennis-savvy commonwealth of Virginia, at Virginia Tech, William & Mary and Old Dominion.
"It is good to get away early in the season because we can bond on the road," Zinn said. "The good thing is that we all like each other and we all like being around each other, so to us it is no big deal to play on the road. Then we have a nice stretch at home."
Wake Forest closes out the month of February with four home matches against Virginia Commonwealth, Minnesota, Georgia State and Georgia Tech - none of which will be easy matches to win at home, despite playing in the friendly confines of Leighton Stadium, where the Demon Deacons went 11-2 last season.
"VCU is always one of the premier programs in the country," Zinn said. "They are just foreign-laden with all of them having pro experience and that is going to be a good fight for us. Minnesota's number one player, Harsh Mankad, just played here in the Davis Cup and he played Andy Roddick. Even though he lost, you could tell just from watching him that he looked so confident and he took that confidence and won the National Indoors in the fall. Right now he's ranked number two in the nation (Dec. 11). Minnesota is just a top 10 powerhouse. Georgia State is another foreign-laden team that is really good. So we have a really tough February and then March we kick things off with Georgia Tech at home and that will be a good one to kick off the ACC with a home match."
After a stop in Greenville, SC to play Furman, the Deacs will travel to San Diego, CA over spring break to take on Purdue and Toreros of San Diego.
"We go to San Diego, which is an extremely good tennis team," Zinn said. "We play another Big Ten powerhouse, Purdue, and they have given us fits in the past. A lot of it is payback this year. We've got some teams that have owned us. This team has got to stand up for themselves and go out and prove that they are tired of getting stepped on."
Upon return from the spring break trip, Wake Forest will spend a weekend at Virginia and Maryland taking on ACC foes, before returning home to host Duke. The Demon Deacons then play three conference matches away from home playing at Florida State, North Carolina and Clemson before returning home to close the regular season with NC State. Wake Forest will step out of conference play twice during that stretch though to host formidable opponents, Brown on March 26 and South Carolina on April 10.
"The last part of March and the beginning of April is all ACC schools, which will be challenging as always, but one match that stands out which isn't a conference opponent is Brown," Zinn said. "The Ivy League Champion, Brown has completely revamped their program in the last four or five years and we're lucky that we play them here. Plus you throw in South Carolina, which is an SEC school that we always play home-and-home and is again one of the premier tennis programs in the country.
"Our schedule is tough, but this group wants to play the tough matches," Zinn said. "They want to play the tough schools day-in and day-out."
Wake Forest is up for the challenge and will be a tough opponent for any team they face on any day. When the last match is over this year, this seasoned group of Demon Deacons might just put an even bigger smile on Zinn's face.
