Losing weekends in any sport are bound to happen. The troubling aspect for the Gophers womenâÄôs tennis team is not that it was swept this weekend by Illinois and Indiana, but the lack of emotional maturity their head coach, Tyler Thomson, saw in his players. âÄúI think that we are capable of doing a much better job in areas that we can control, and thatâÄôs our attitude, our ability to stick around with competitiveness and our decision making,âÄù Thomson said. âÄúThis team is very, very well intended, and I know that they give their best, but we still have a lot to learn.âÄù At home for the final full weekend regular season series, the Gophers first hosted No. 34 Indiana Friday and looked to be on the right path early. Minnesota took two of three doubles matches to earn the one-point advantage, but during singles play, they collapsed, losing four of six singles matches to fall to the Hoosiers 4-3 in a heartbreaker. âÄúWhen you lose matches this closely, itâÄôs not a matter of the talent,âÄù Thomson said. âÄúItâÄôs some intangible things are not where they could be.âÄù The Gophers singles victories came from senior Jackie Sperling , who won in three sets, and junior Alessandra Ferrazzi , who bested Evgeniya Vertesheva in straight sets. Looking to rebound Sunday, Minnesota hosted No. 36 Illinois, but the GophersâÄô lackluster doubles play âÄî Minnesota lost all three matches by scores of 8-3, 8-3 and 8-4 âÄî inspired a stern lecture from Thomson before the team would head to singles competition. âÄúI told them that they need to consider the things that are coming out that reflect upon their character,âÄù Thomson said. âÄúWhen youâÄôre playing against quality opponents like we do every weekend, thereâÄôs not room for error with that. You canâÄôt be inconsistent with the things that you can control. You canâÄôt control whether you get aced, but you can control how you respond to it.âÄù The speech failed to yield any results on the court as the Gophers lost five of six singles matches to fall to the Illini, 6-1. The lone Minnesota victory came from Tijana Koprivica , who defeated Rachael White 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. âÄúI played exactly the way I had to, to win,âÄù Koprivica said. âÄúIt was not necessarily the best game ever, but it was good enough to win.âÄù ThomsonâÄôs squad heads on the road next weekend where they will face Wisconsin on Friday and the No. 5 Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday. On the menâÄôs side, the Gophers were on the road this weekend, first facing off against No. 13 Illinois Saturday. The Illini took the hard-earned doubles point after winning two of three matches by scores of 8-5 and 9-8 (7-1). Two of the three doubles matches needed a tiebreaker to be decided. Singles play featured five ranked players in competition, with the depth of Illinois simply too much to handle. The Illini took five of six matches, including a grueling four-set victory by No. 57 Marek Czerwinski over No. 105 Tobias Wernet en route to the 6-1 victory. Sunday was a different story, as the Gophers responded to the tough loss with a close win, edging out the Hoosiers 4-3. Doubles play did not give an indication of the success to come as Indiana took all three doubles matches. The Gophers earned their victory in singles as they took four of six matches, including a five-set victory by Brendan Ruddock over Will Kendall to stave off the sweep. Minnesota returns home next weekend for their final home series of the season where they will face Northwestern Friday and Wisconsin on Sunday at Baseline Tennis Center.
Thomson says Gophers need attitude change
The women’s team struggled through two losses while the men won one of their two matches.
by Max Sanders
Published April 11, 2010
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