By Pete Ruden
Coming off of the season in which it was ranked the highest nationally as it has ever been, the Iowa men’s tennis team wants to build on last year’s successful season.
The team finished last season ranked No. 65 in the country, miles ahead of where it was just a few years ago. Even though the Hawkeyes have made progress and are constantly improving, there is more to be done, and the players know it.
“This is quite possibly the strongest team that the University of Iowa has ever had,” junior Josh Silverstein said. “One through 6, we’ve got good depth, and I expect everyone to have his best season so far.”
The Hawkeyes lost only one senior, Dom Patrick, from last season, but they still have plenty of players capable of winning matches. Though the team will still be able to win, Patrick’s presence on the team will be missed.
“Dom was a good leader, and Dom rubbed off on a lot of us,” Silverstein said. “We’re all growing up, and we take everything that Dom said, and we keep applying it to ourselves. He certainly left a good impression on us, but I think we’ll do just fine this year without him.”
Though the unit’s most important season isn’t until the spring, the fall has some importance as well. This is the time that members of the team play individually, allowing each to gain a ranking. Certain players will travel to different tournaments, which is different from playing as one team, as in the spring. Senior Robin Haden is especially looking forward to this fall season.
“I’m really excited to get a lot of matches this fall to try to get a lot of wins, to try to get a lot of confidence coming into the spring season,” the native of Danderyd, Sweden, said.
Even before the fall season, the tennis squad has put in work. Improvement and letting athletes stay to train in the summer has been a goal for head coach Ross Wilson, and he is reaching that.
“Part of my goal when I became the head coach was to develop a program where the guys could come here and train all summer with the head coach and the assistant coach,” said Wilson, who was an All-American in his playing days at Ohio State.
The coaching staff also made tournament schedules for the athletes; there were five professional tournaments within driving distance, as well as tennis association tournaments available to play in.
The Hawkeyes have the potential to be a top team in the Big Ten. However, with a more experienced roster that is more evenly balanced than in past years, the players know that nothing will just be given to them.
After a hot start to last season that dropped off, they now know what they are capable of.
“We all saw when we were at our highest level; we saw how good we can be, and I think that motivates us for this year,” Haden said.
His teammate agrees.
“We have had time off, we’ve learned from our mistakes, and we really want a good season. We are all really passionate about it,” Silverstein said. “We’re going to put in all the hard work, and we just know the right steps now to be successful. We just have to apply them, which we will.”