Trojans ready for ITA Kick-off Weekend
After a tough outing in the Southern California USTA Pro Futures, the USC men’s tennis team returned to its winning ways with a dominant showing at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup. The team followed up that performance with a commanding 6-1 victory over UC Riverside on Monday, giving the team some momentum heading into the ITA Kick-Off this weekend.
In the Sherwood Collegiate Cup singles competition, the Trojans were strongly represented with nine entrants. Sophomore Nick Crystal, senior Jonny Wang, senior Roberto Quiroz and freshman Thibault Forget swept their first-round matches, while both sophomore Rob Bellamy and junior Max de Vroome won their opening matches in three sets to advance to the second round. Freshman Tanner Smith and sophomore Connor Farren failed to advance to the second round after both of them were swept in their first match. Senior Eric Johnson, despite winning the first set in his opening match, was also eliminated from competition after losing the second and third sets of the match.
Of the six Trojans that advanced to the second round, only Quiroz and Wang would make it to the quarterfinals. Quiroz’s second round matchup against Vince Schneider of Baylor started rough for Quiroz, who lost 2-6 to Schneider in the first set. Quiroz fought back, however, and easily won the next two sets by scores of 6-2 and 6-1 to win the match. Wang also needed three sets to move on to the quarterfinals when he took on Karue Sell from UCLA in the second round. Wang won the first set 6-3, but dropped the second set to Sell 2-6. Despite his troubles in the second set, Wang took control in the third and final set, winning the set 6-1 and punching his ticket to the quarterfinals. Bellamy’s singles play came to an end when he was swept 4-6, 5-7 in his second round matchup. Crystal, Forget, and de Vroome failed to advance to the quarterfinals after each of them lost their respective second round matches in three sets.
In the quarterfinals, Quiroz and Wang dominated their competition, with both of them sweeping their respective opponents. Felipe Rios from Baylor gave Quiroz a tough fight, but Quiroz was able to finish the job in the first and second sets, winning 6-4, 7-6 (4) and earning a spot in the semifinals. Wang didn’t have too much trouble in his quarterfinals matchup, beating Mate Zsiga from Baylor 6-1, 6-2.
Quiroz and Wang were pitted against each other in the semifinals. Quiroz swept his fellow teammate 6-2, 6-3 en route to the championship match, where he took on UCLA’s Dennis Mkrtchian. In the championship match, Quiroz made things look easy, sweeping Mkrtchian 6-2, 6-0 and claiming the Sherwood Collegiate Cup singles title.
Quiroz said it was a big moment for him when he won the Sherwood Collegiate Cup.
“For me, it’s a very important accomplishment,”Quiroz said. “Sherwood is such a traditional tournament. Being able to win the tournament is unbelievable and even more [because] I’m a senior. But you know what, I wasn’t feeling great last week, but I just tried to give my best… I never gave up and I just kept building every match, and I think that was key to my success. And, you know, I’m very happy, but I’m more motivated to work harder and give my best to the team.”
In doubles action, the Trojans were well represented with four teams. Smith and Wang enjoyed a first-round bye, while the other three USC pairings competed in the opening round. Quiroz and de Vroome advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1 win over UCLA’s Michael Guzman and Ryoto Tachi, while Bellamy and Farren moved on with a 6-4 win over UCLA’s Austin Rapp and Mkrtxchian. The pairing of Crystal and Forget, who lost 1-6 to Baylor’s Julian Lenz and Rios, was the only USC pairing that did not advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, two of the three remaining USC pairings won their matchups and continued to the semifinals. Quiroz and de Vroome advanced to the semifinals via a walkover, while Smith and Wang took down Juan Benitez and Zsiga from Baylor by a score of 6-3 to continue on in the competition. Bellamy and Farren were eliminated from doubles play after a heartbreaking 6-7 (4) loss to Tom Fawcett and Maciek Romanowicz of Stanford.
Like the singles semifinals, the doubles semifinals pitted the two remaining USC competitors against each other. Quiroz and de Vroome shut out Smith and Wang 6-0 to advance to the finals. In the championship game, Quiroz and de Vroome fell to Fawcett and Romanowicz 4-6, finishing second in the doubles tournament.
The team returned to Marks Stadium on Monday, where they took on the UC Riverside Highlanders (UCR). In doubles play, the Trojans were unable to pull out a victory. Michael Carella and Calvin Ngo (UCR) defeated Bellamy and Forget 6-4, while Luis Gaståo and Sean Robles (UCR) defeated redshirt freshman David Laser and Smith 6-2 to clinch the doubles point. Crystal and Farren were up 5-3 over Julian Ruffin and Sina Sharifi before play was suspended.
Bellamy shared his thoughts on why he believed his team did so poorly in doubles action. “There were two new pairings: myself and Thibault,” said Bellamy. “We had never played before, and so that was interesting. And the guys on Court 3, David and Tanner, had also never played before. With doubles, it just takes a lot of getting used to, knowing what your partner’s going to do and kind of understanding each other. It’s also the first dual match of the season, so there’s some nerves.”
Losing the doubles point would not matter, however, as the Trojans dominated singles play, winning all six of their matches. Johnson and Crystal both took down their respective UCR opponents by a score of 6-1, 6-1. Farren defeated Sharifi 6-2, 6-2, while Forget earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over Robles. Bellamy reigned victorious in a 6-4, 6-1 win over Carella, and Smith outlasted Hans Baumstark 7-5, 6-4. With the six victories, the Trojans won the meet 6-1 and are now officially 1-0 on the season.
USC men’s tennis coach Peter Smith talked about how this match was different from the Southern California USTA Pro Futures and what he did to get his team back into winning form. “The tournament we played was really, really tough two weeks ago,” said Smith. “It’s very hard to compare that to today’s match [against UC Riverside]. We needed to get together, and we needed to work hard and train. It’s that simple.”
Following the Southern California USTA Pro Futures, Smith said that his team needed to focus on footwork. After the match against UC Riverside, Smith talked about the improvements he has seen in that area. “We had the energy out here [against UC Riverside] and that translates to footwork,” said Smith. “You know, just an aggressive mindset, and working super hard and moving your feet. We saw that, and it’ll just get better and better.”
This weekend, the Trojans will be hosting a two-day tournament at Marks Stadium with UNC Wilmington, Santa Clara and Louisiana-Lafayette for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. On Friday, UNC Wilmington will take on Santa Clara in the morning, while the Trojans will take on Louisiana-Lafayette in the early afternoon. The loser from each of the two games will play a consolation match Saturday afternoon, and the winners from Friday’s games will play in the championship game Saturday evening.
UNC Wilmington is 2-0 on the season with 7-0 wins against both Appalachian State and Gardner-Webb. In fact, UNC Wilmington, which is ranked No. 50 nationally, didn’t lose a set in either match. The freshmen will be a key factor for UNC Wilmington this weekend, considering there are six of them on the team.
Santa Clara, like UNC Wilmington, is 2-0 so far this season. Santa Clara, which has taken on UC Santa Cruz and Sonoma State, won both of its matches by a score of 4-0 and never gave up a set. Santa Clara consists of only seven players, but is ranked No. 56 nationally.
Louisiana-Lafayette has a 2-2 record on the season. Three of those four games were played during the Florida State Invitational, where Louisiana Lafayette went 2-1. Their only loss in the tournament came against No. 72 North Florida by a score of 0-4. Louisiana-Lafayette rebounded and won the next two matches against Furman and South Alabama by scores of 4-2 and 4-3, respectively. In Louisiana-Lafayette’s last match, they fell to Lamar 3-4.