Men's tennis feels bite of injuries in opener
By By Ryan Yeung Sports Editor
Starting off a season on the right foot is crucial to a team's success. The men's tennis team, hampered by the absence of key players, fell to the University of Hartford in their season opener. But don't expect results like this during the rest of the season.

The absences proved to be most costly at the top of the singles ladder. With Co-captain David Wellner '02 injured and Brian Chin '03 and Adam Leibsohn '03 abroad, other players had to move out of their normal slots in the lineup. The Jeffs ended up losing the top three singles matches, but they stormed back to even the score.

In the first singles match of the day the Hawks' Pedja Zdrakovic defeated Bryan Wexler '02 (6-2, 6-3). Andy Tsai '03 lost to Jeff Hulbert (6-1, 6-3) in the second slot, and Rob Feeley '03 fell to Patrick Flint (6-2, 3-6, 7-5) in the third game.

In the first Amherst win of the day George Tsai '02 defeated Hartford's Clint Broadie (6-4, 4-6, 6-4). Andrew Merle '04 followed suit by defeating Evan Sideman (6-2, 6-2), and Andy Sagor '03 continued the streak, taking down Dan Kirchner (6-7, 6-3, 6-2).

Although the Jeffs played well in the final singles matches, they dropped all three of the doubles contests.

The men's tennis team will now travel to Cambridge to play at the three-day Rolex Tournament at MIT beginning Friday.

"I think if we play up to our capacity we can go far in the tournament," said George Tsai. "As long as we go into there competently I think we can play well."

Issue 04, Submitted 2001-09-25 22:47:44