By Christopher Lancette
College Park, MD — While Novak Djokovic was battling Rafael Nadal for all the tennis world to see at the Sony Ericsson final in Miami last week, Jan Surovic was laboring away here trying to lead his Maryland Terrapin tennis team to an upset over the 19th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Surovic recovers from a pair of double faults to save a service game that helps propel him and doubles partner Maros Horny to a win at the No. 1 spot. On the next point, he races forward to scoop up a drop shot and lobs it smartly over Yellow Jacket heads, forcing an error.
The silky smooth play earns applause from the smattering of the maybe 75 fans attending a match that’s taking place in the shadow of the Terrapin football stadium across the street. The fact that the crowd at most college matches could fit under a turtle’s shell begs for another point to be made: You’re nuts if you’re a tennis fan who’s not taking advantage of all the college game has to offer.
Fan Rene Linder backs me up immediately.
“Some people roll their eyes when you tell them they should come out for college tennis,” says Linder, an active 4.5 recreational league player who would have been joined by many thousands of University of Maryland alumni had the contest featured a bigger ball or one that bounces funny. “They say they can’t learn anything from guys not good enough to be in the pros. That’s a joke. YOU can’t learn anything from Nadal; he’s too far above your level. You’re telling me you can go out and play rotten tennis for a few hours but you can’t drive down the street and come here?”
Vincent Liu picks up on that thought when I move over to another set of bleachers, also just a few feet off the court. The fact that you can get so close to the game gives you a chance to see things you can’t catch from nose-bleed seats or TV. Even HD.
“College tennis is played at a very high level,” Liu tells me in between points. He and tennis league friend Henry Bankard (who drives an hour and a half one way) regularly attend Maryland men’s and women’s tennis matches. “Only a small number of people are good enough to play at a Division One level, or even Division Two. They’re skill level is so much greater than ours but we can learn from them. We can at least try to mimic some of what we see.”
Almost regardless of where you live in the country, you’re within easy driving distance of quality college tennis at some level. Doesn’t matter whether you go see one of the traditional tennis powerhouses playing at the upper echelons of the college game or you check out teams a little closer to earth. Spend five minutes on the Internet and you’ll find the teams near you. The regular season is winding down now and conference tournaments lay ahead – as do the NCAA men’s and women’s championships.
Liu brings up another big plus for the college game. “It’s free and it’s outdoors,” he says.
Amateur hackers are notorious for being a cheap bunch so I’m surprised his fiscal perspective hasn’t caught on. I started going to college matches at the University of Georgia back when WorldTennisMagazine.com owner Randy Walker played for the Bulldogs. (John Isner was probably just learning to walk.) There was nothing my meager budget loved more than kicking back under the southern sun and watching the men’s or women’s team slap some opponents around. I still love the “free” factor 25 years later, even if my humble nonprofit communications director salary at least affords me boxed seats at pro tournaments like the Legg Mason in Washington D.C.
I save even more greenbacks because I can pack a cooler full of all my favorite foods and eat until I can’t move. Try sneaking a sandwich into a pro tennis match or a college football game: It’s easier to crash the White House.
The whirling blades of a helicopter break my train of thought. Is it Marine One? Is President Obama coming to check out the action in preparation for making his NCAA tennis tournament brackets?
Back on court, the Yellow Jackets are, well, buzzing. They take two of the three doubles matches and singles play is heating up. My loyalties are divided and I’m struggling to figure out who I’m rooting for. I grew up in Atlanta going to Tech games with my dad as he adopted the school when he moved us there. I went to rival Georgia, and I now live a bike ride away from the University of Maryland.
I realize I need to truly get in the spirit of the day and declare my allegiance to my new home state Terrapins. I’ve already adopted the Orioles as my local baseball team. (Sorry Nats – you’re just too boring to watch and your stadium can’t hold a candle to Camden Yards.)
Students and sisters Shea Nixon and Larkin Nixon make it clear I’ve chosen the right mindset. College tennis, they say as they alternately complete each other’s sentences with Bryan Brothers-like precision, is about closeness.
“It’s really exciting to see tennis like this in person,” Larkin says.
“And you can really feel the energy,” Shea adds.
Sergio Wyss is right there with us, leading the Maryland singles charge at No. 2 against Georgia Tech’s Juan Spir. Though the tide is slowly washing over the Terps on this day, he’s still screaming to pump himself up and motivate his teammates. “Come on! Fight! Let’s go!” He gets a surprisingly thunderous echo from his teammates on and off court. “Go Big Serg!” Surovic’s voice alone produces sonic booms.
None of the Terps, in fact, are surrendering. Tommy Laine is willing himself to a successful comeback on the next court. He rips a string of winners and celebrates the big points by pumping his fist and deliriously sprinting after what I presume to be an invisible pig.
Down on the No. 1 court, Tech’s Guillermo Gomez of Spain will have none of it. He strikes me as a mini-Rafa: He’s strong as a bull, intense and plays as if he’s late for a hot date.
Linder wonders aloud if Gomez could be the next Somdev Devvarman, the University of Virginia graduate who “came here and killed us” en route to winning back-to-back NCAA singles titles and then launched his move up the pro rankings. (The No. 71 India native recently racked up wins against several higher-ranked players including Janko Tipsarevic and Marcos Baghdatis. He even had the audacity to give Nadal a tough match at Indian Wells.)
“That’s another great thing about college tennis,” Linder says. “You get to see who’s coming up. Who might be the next Devvarman? Could it be Gomez? He’s got a lot of talent.”
Tech coach Kenny Thorne agrees, telling NCAA.com that Gomez “is the best player to come through Tech, and he deserves to have every record here.” His charge is on the verge of setting Georgia Tech’s all-time wins record and certainly has his sights set on the next level.
Gomez overpowers Horny to give Maryland a 3-1 lead in the best of nine-match contest. (I think that was the tally at the time – I need a remedial course in college scoring.) The Terrapins’ numbers 3 and 6 singles give it everything they have but fall short. Ditto for No. 5. The overall match may be over but Laine and Big Serg are not about to let up.
Laine completes his victory and Wyss finds himself behind in a deciding tie-breaker when he tracks down a screamer and smacks a forehand winner up the line to pull within two points. He lunges after a backhand on the next point and cracks another winner to pull within one.
“Fight!” he screams.
“Go Big Serg!” the echo brings back.
The slightest of unforced errors, though, leaves him at match point down. Spir seizes the momentum shift and crushes a second serve return for a winner to close it out.
Wyss’s teammates give him props for a hard-fought match. The Terps’ fans also shout some encouraging words as they’re STILL there despite the fact the outcome of the team contest had been decided long ago.
You should get out to college teams near you, too. It’s fun, usually free and a heck of a way to spend an afternoon. Go to enough matches and it might even help you be less rotten in your own.
Christopher Lancette is a new WorldTennisMagazine.com contributor who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. He Tweets about life in Washington D.C. @chrislancette.
