Twosome can’t overcome altitude to move on to later rounds of Denver Invitational.
MARC CHOQUETTE
Staff Writer
Two members of the men’s tennis team who traveled to Denver last weekend to represent the eighth-ranked Waves team came back unhappy but noted that it was a learning experience and will help them down the road.
Seniors Kevin Borzenski and Richard Johnson headed to Denver hoping for strong finishes in their singles and doubles matches. For Borzenski, a defeat at the hands of Adam Holstrom of the University of Denver (6-3, 6-4) forced him to make an early exit in the singles rounds. Johnson fared better, winning the first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals, where he was then sent packing by Graeme Kassautzki of New Mexico (6-3, 6-4).
The doubles duo of Johnson and Borzenski didn’t fair too well either. The team was defeated in the first round of doubles play by Denver’s Nejc Smole and Viktor Zetterholm (9-8).
While Borzenski said he was disappointed with the results in Denver, he said that his draw was pretty tough, having to take on the No.-2 ranked player at Denver, who went on to win the singles tournament.
Something that many forget when traveling to Denver is the altitude.
“The conditions were difficult,” Borzenski said. “The altitude made the balls fly like I had never experienced before. I guess that was home-court advantage for the Denver guys.”
Johnson said he felt he performed pretty well, making it to the quarterfinals, but really felt that he could have won the last match despite stiff competition.
In the doubles match, “Rich and I had high expectations, but we lost in the first round to a solid Denver team,” Borzenski said. “We played awesome in our service games, but we really didn’t focus the way we should’ve on our return games. There were no breaks of serve in the match, so we lost 9-8.”
So after not much good news to report, there are still some positive things the guys can take out of an experience such as this. Borzenski said the Waves have one of the toughest spring schedules in the country and facing tough competition early will help prepare them for that.
“You win a national championship in the spring, but you prepare for it in the fall,” added Borzenski.
In a week, the ITA All-American Tournament begins in Tulsa, Okla. Representing the Waves will be two-time All-American Pedro Rico. He is one of the top seeds in the tournament and has been training hard for the event.
On Rico, Borzenski said, “He’s also one of those guys that players everywhere are afraid to play because they know they have to tree (play unreal) to win.”
09-29-2005