Michigan tennis had its share of ups and downs this past week at the D’Novo/ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Highlighted by its upset of No. 5 UCLA on Friday, the doubles team of senior Jason Jung and sophomore Evan King reached the quarterfinals of its draw before losing to the defending national champion Virginia team of Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz. In singles play, on the other hand, Jung had a disappointing showing, losing in the second round of the consolation bracket after being knocked out in the first round of the draw.
Jung, the Wolverines’ captain and the 25th-ranked player in the nation, started his play on a rough note Thursday, getting upset by Wake Forest’s Jon Wolff. No. 81 Wolff beat Jung in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
“These tournaments are always very long the first day,” Jung said. “It’s tough. I wasn’t as ready as I should’ve been in the morning and things didn’t go my way. It’s always tough to lose the first match, but it gives you more motivation to win the second match because you’re getting another opportunity to prove yourself.”
Jung did just that, beating Georgia Tech’s Juan Spir 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in the first round of the consolation bracket. On Friday morning, Jung finished singles play with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Texas Tech’s Gonzo Escobar. After winning convincingly in the first set, the Wolverine was unable to hold off the No. 24 player.
“I didn’t do as well as I would’ve liked,” Jung said, “but it’s a step in the right direction and shows me there’s some things I can definitely improve on.”
The Michigan doubles pair fared better in the tournament, as the 12th-ranked team of Jung and King reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. Competing in their first doubles match of the season Thursday, the two defeated Florida State’s No. 17 team of Vahid Mirzadeh and Connor Smith, winning 9-7. The Wolverines resumed doubles play Friday afternoon, upsetting No. 5 UCLA’s Amit Inbar and Nick Meister 8-5.
“I had no idea (UCLA was ranked no. 5) going into the match,” King said. “That wasn’t going through my head when we beat them. It’s great to know we can compete with and beat a top five-level team.”
Jung liked the adjustments he and his partner made between matches.
“Our first match we didn’t play as well,” Jung said, “We improved on some of those things and proved ourselves versus UCLA.”
Despite a good effort, Michigan was unable to get by the reigning national champion doubles team, ending the Wolverines’ play in the annual All-American Championships. Virginia’s No. 3 duo of Courtney and Shabaz beat King and Jung 8-5.
“It’s good to gauge where Evan and I are at against some of the top competition so we can improve,” Jung said.
The Wolverines come back to Ann Arbor and will prepare for the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, which start Oct. 21 in South Bend, Indiana.
“I was definitely pleased with the level of our play and hopefully we can take that throughout the fall and into the spring,” King said, “But the ultimate goal is to become the best team in the country and win the entire tournament. It just makes us hungrier to keep improving.”