For tennis players, the fall season is a time for improving individual skills and perfecting techniques, and the best way to improve is to compete at the highest level possible. That”s exactly what four members of the Michigan men”s tennis team did last week at the ITA All-American Championships in Stone Mountain, Ga.
“There are two or three things we look to do with the team during the fall,” Michigan assistant coach Dan Goldberg said. “We want to see individual improvement, help players make technical changes to their game and get them involved in top level conditions. The idea is to let them see some different faces and find out where they stack up nationally.”
The tournament one of the top two or three in the nation, according to Goldberg consisted of a prequalifying round, a qualifying round and a main draw. Players without a national ranking started competition in the prequalifying round, while the top-ranked players automatically received a bid to the main draw.
Michigan sent three team members to the prequalifying round. The Wolverines” No.1 singles player Henry Beam (No. 43) was invited to the main draw.
In prequalifying last Tuesday, sophomore Anthony Johnson and freshman Matt Lockin won their first matches but failed to advance any further toward the qualifying round. Senior Ben Cox went 2-1 for the tournament, advancing through the first two rounds of prequalifying before falling to Zoltan Papp of Baylor, 7-5, 6-2.
“I thought we played fair, but nobody was quite as sharp as we would have liked,” Goldberg said. “Ben has been battling some arm problems but otherwise I thought he had a good chance to make it to the qualifying round.”
Beam began play last Thursday, facing a tough draw in No. 1 Stanford singles player K.J. Hippensteel (No. 3), who beat Beam 6-2, 6-0 en route to the finals of the singles tournament yesterday.
“Henry got down early and never quite dug himself out,” Goldberg said. “His opponent played well from the start. Still, he learned quite a bit in his first match and played better in his later consolation match.”
In the consolation round, Beam battled Indiana State”s No. 1 singles player, Stefan Hirn, but lost in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Although none of the Wolverines played particularly well at the ITA Championship, that doesn”t mean that they didn”t get a chance to learn and improve.
“You learn quite a bit playing against top players, and that”s what we wanted to do at this tournament,” Goldberg said. “Our goal this fall is have some individual time with players and to help them improve the fine points of their game.”