USC men’s tennis team tackles the Sherwood Collegiate Cup

Looking to shake off a rough start to the new year, the defending NCAA champion USC men’s tennis team will try to divide and conquer at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup this weekend. From today through Jan. 19, the Trojans will partake in singles and doubles individual tournaments in Westlake Village, Calif., along with competitors from Baylor, Stanford and UCLA.

The USC men’s tennis team collectively struggled in its first tournament of 2015, the Southern California United States Tennis Association Pro Futures Circuit event – senior Eric Johnson was the lone Trojan able to progress beyond the first round of singles competition, only to fall in the second round, and in doubles, the No. 1-ranked senior duo of Roberto Quiroz and Yannick Hanfmann was eliminated in the tournament quarterfinals.

Following the USTA Pro Futures Circuit event, head coach Peter Smith cited a lack of match fitness from the holiday layover as a primary factor for his team’s woes.

“It’s kind of like waking in the morning and not having your coffee,” Smith said. “That was their introduction to the new year. They woke up and went ‘Oh man. Alright, I do have to play at this level.’ To be honest, they were playing against some top competition, so it was the perfect way to start the new year.”

After coming back and turning it up a notch in practice this week, Smith is confident that the defending champion Trojans will return to form at Sherwood during the weekend.

“We’re playing much better,” Smith said. “They enjoyed Christmas, what can I say. They’ve gotten into the routine, they’ve gotten their workouts. [The USTA Pro Circuit] put a sense of urgency to their workouts this week, and everyone really played a lot better – a couple levels higher this week.”

Of the 32 singles and 16 doubles entries, four individual Trojans and two USC tandems are seeded in the tournament. In singles, Hanfmann earned the No. 1 seed in the competition. Senior Jonny Wang enters as the No. 4 seed, followed by sophomore Nick Crystal at the No. 6 spot and rounded out with Quiroz in the No. 7 ranking. In doubles play, the pair of Hanfmann and Johnson take the No. 2 seed, with the duo of Quiroz and junior Max de Vroome set at the No. 4 spot.

The remaining top eight seeds for singles pit Baylor’s Julian Lenz at No. 2, UCLA’s Mackenzie McDonald at No. 4, and Stanford’s Tom Fawcett and David Hsu at No. 5 and No. 8 respectively. UCLA’s team of McDonald and Martin Redlicki top the doubles bracket, while Baylor’s pair of Lenz and Felipe Rios take the No. 3 seed in team competition.

“Every time you enter a tournament, you expect it to be as tough as any other,” sophomore Connor Farren said. “I think it’s going to be a great competition, and hopefully we can get better every match.”

Last year in the Sherwood Collegiate Cup, then-junior Quiroz reached the singles quarterfinals and then-sophomore Vroome won the consolation tournament in singles play. Quiroz and then-freshman Farren battled their way to the semifinals of last year’s Sherwood doubles tournament.

With a team of half underclassmen this year, Smith will use the Cup as a diagnostic for the level at which his players are competing.

“A lot of the lineup has been established through the fall season, but it’s a fresh look to see how everyone is playing,” Smith said. “It’s really just to see where everybody’s at on the court.”

The team’s freshmen will get their first taste of spring competition this weekend. Freshman Tanner Smith, set to make his regular season debut at Sherwood, feels the longtime powerhouse tennis program has primed him for collegiate competition.

“Our seniors are great, they really know how to push us,” Smith said. “It’s just so exciting, being surrounded by so many good players. This [tournament] is going to be fun”

Still in the opening stages of the spring season, the Trojans will hope to gain early momentum as they shake off the rust and pursue their sixth NCAA championship in seven years.

“When you sign up to come to USC, whether you’re a player or a coach, the tradition here is good and the expectation is to do the best,” Smith said. “But to do that, you have to prepare your best.”