Jan. 21, 2009
DALLAS (SMU)-As the SMU men's tennis team readies to embark on the 2008-09 season, preparing for a highly competitive schedule will be a major factor in laying the groundwork for a successful season. The Mustangs will face nine ITA-ranked teams overall, with six of them being top 25 programs. SMU currently sits at No. 43 heading into match play this week.
Having returned to the NCAA team championships last season, the Mustangs hope to build on their success by matching up against teams with winning experience in the title tournament. Up first for the Mustangs at Turpin Tennis Stadium is No. 7 Baylor, who is returning four nationally-ranked singles players including All-American Denes Lucaks. The Bears provide elite play that will assist the Mustangs' preparation for May, since Baylor earned their way into the 2008 NCAA quarterfinals last season.
The Mustangs will then travel to Oklahoma to take on reigning Conference-USA champion and No. 13 Tulsa. Headlining for the Golden Hurricane is the No. 10 singles player in the nation, C-USA Player of the Year Arnau Brugues. Brugues also teams up with Philip Stevens to create the ITA No. 4 doubles team.
Returning home, SMU will face their most challenging opponent of the season, 2008 NCAA runner-up and No. 2 Texas. Texas is led by 31st-ranked Dimitar Kutrovsky and 84th-ranked Olivier Sajous in singles. Kutrovsky and teammate Josh Zavala are the Longhorns top doubles team, coming into the season ranked No. 25 in the country.
In March, the Mustangs will make their way to Pebble Beach to take on the No. 25 California Golden Bears led by Kallim Stewart, the program's top 50 ranked player, and No. 72 Pedro Zerbini. SMU will return to Dallas to host a four-match home streak, where they will compete against No. 22 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys will look to No. 5 singles player Oleksandr Nedovyesov for strong performances.
For their final match of the regular season, SMU battles No. 24 Rice in conference play. The Owls return top singles player, No. 26 Bruno Rosa, and add freshman Sam Garfoth-Bles who comes in ranked 61st. Other ITA-ranked programs include No. 32 Virginia Commonwealth University, No. 33 TCU, and No. 62 UC-Santa Barbara, with both VCU and UC-SB matches played at Turpin Tennis Stadium.
The Mustangs will continue to capitalize on last season's efforts, spear-headed by junior Robin Fahgen, who ended last season ranked 111th in the nation, and is currently ranked 22nd in the South Central region. Newcomer Artem Baradach is a welcome addition to the SMU talent pool, heading into competition as the No. 118 singles player in the nation, and 17th in the region.
The Mustangs begin the 2008-09 spring season on Thursday, January 22 against Baylor at the Turpin Tennis Stadium at 2:00 p.m.
