SMU
The Lakes Collegiate Invitational
SMU Men’s Tennis Eager To Continue Building
Sep 16 | Men's Tennis
DALLAS – Grant Chen is quick to admit he was wrong.
Last year, COVID-19 altered the SMU men's tennis season drastically. Normally, the fall is when the Mustangs would play in invitational events, where individual athletes compete on their own, followed by the team season taking place in the spring.
The pandemic forced those invitational tournaments to be canceled, which left Chen with only one option – a lot of intrasquad competitions. The fourth-year coach tried to replicate the feel of a true invitational event. But, when the spring season started, he quickly realized that you simply can't fake competing against someone else.
"I made it as realistic as possible with officials and with all the COVID boundaries, but I'll tell you, it was a little bit ignorant on my part because we were behind the eight-ball come January. So many things we were rusty with, it was not the same," Chen said. "I think we're going into this fall with a whole new appreciation and excitement knowing this is part of the whole new development process to be able to get us positioned for the spring. I'm thrilled, I really am."
SMU's fall season officially gets underway on Friday in Frisco with The Lakes Collegiate Invitational. The Mustangs join Oklahoma, Rice and Texas Tech at the event which will run through Sunday.
Over the next three months, the program will play in individual events throughout Texas and California before breaking for the holidays and then returning for the team schedule in the spring.
While the 2020-21 season was far from normal, SMU enters this campaign eager to build on some of last season's success. During the spring action, the Mustangs managed to notch 18 wins, the most by the program since 2016, knocking off four top-40 opponents along the way.
American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Liam Krall returns after an impressive 16-9 individual record last year. Redshirt sophomore Julian Steinhausen also returns after going 15-9 individually and 17-3 as a doubles partner. The Mustangs also added the services of grad transfer Ivan Thamma who was All-Big West First Team as a singles and doubles player for UC Davis last year.
Now in his fourth year at the helm of the program, Chen is eager to see what a roster full entirely of players he recruited can accomplish.
"I think the team really believed this past season that they were there, that they belonged and they were knocking on the door from the outside in," Chen said. "This season, I think we're going into a whole new hunger as well. We've tasted a little bit of success, but at the same time we're not satisfied and we want more."
Along with invitationals in the fall and team competition in the spring, SMU tennis continues to build a brand that goes beyond wins and losses. Over the summer, it was announced that program alums Jennifer and Mark Styslinger made a gift to name the facility the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex at SMU. The facility is not only the home for both the Mustangs men's and women's programs, but it will also be the site of the ATP's Dallas Open. The February event will allow SMU athletes to work out with some of the world's best players as training partners.
The tennis ecosystem, as Chen labels it, at SMU continues to grow, as do the expectations. The goal is to see this weekend be the starting point for something special.
"We've got from now until May for the season and it's something that we want to peak in April and May, as opposed to playing our best tennis now and then tapering off," Chen said. "The whole thing is a marathon and I'm just excited to be a part of it with these guys and see their journey and their development."
