Matt Gross is a junior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 4-13-10
Well, last weekend did not quite work out as well as I had planned.
Going into it, I believed that in order for our season to be successful we needed to win both of our matches. After being swept in doubles 3-0 by the University of Rochester on Saturday, it appeared as if our season would be deemed a failure. Did our team come back and win five out of the six singles matches? No. But, as I write this now it does not matter. Our team has faced a lot of adversity this season. Although our results may not have met my expectations, I would like to congratulate each of my teammates for coming back each day ready to play.
This weekend posed two difficult scenarios for our team. Playing Rochester amid a hostile crowd did not help us as we lost 7-2. I told my teammates in the huddle to try to not let the crowd affect your play. Although I do believe it played a factor, my teammates and I cannot look to blame the loss on the crowd. It is our responsibility to rise above it.
I wish I could've kept my poise throughout my match. After Rochester had already clinched the match, many Rochester players and fans moved to my court where I was winning 6-4, 5-1. I knew that the match was soon to be over. However, I was able to let the crowd affect my play as they erupted in applause after I double-faulted. I dropped the next two games before winning 6-4, 6-3.
My proudest win of the season had to be the #1 doubles match I played with #Alex Stoler# against Hobart. Alex and I were able to build a 7-4 lead before losing the lead and nearly the match. We were able to bring the match to a tie-break at 8-8.
This season, Alex and I have won every match in a tie-breaker. We were confident we would pull this one out ,too. For a while it appeared we would not. After going down 4-2 and walking to change sides, it was now or never! I turned to Alex and said, "We are not going to lose this match.”
After going down 6-4 and facing two match points, we knew it was time to step up. We won the next 4 points to win the match 8-6. Alex and I have saved match points in two of our wins this season. We have also won each of our doubles matches in tie-breakers. It seems that we play our best when we must, which makes us confident against any team we play.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) we have a match against a tough opponent in Stevens Tech (at the National Tennis Center),
Wish us luck!
Matt Gross is a junior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 4-1-10
Well, it's one of your top two favorite bloggers for the NYU tennis team again. I am happy to report that the NYU men's tennis team is on a two-match winning streak. That's right, a two-match winning streak. That means we won one match, and then we won the next match, too.
Yesterday's match (a 6-3 win over U.S. Coast Guard Academy) started with three doubles matches. #Eugene Tsarevskiy# and Alex "Tops" (Topchishvili) were instrumental in building momentum for our team as they won their match at #3.
With the doubles matches then tied at 1-1, it was up to myself and #Alex Stoler# to try to build a lead going into the singles matches. Our match was extremely tough and had a lot of ups and downs. After having a lead and being in control of the match, our opponents came back and we were forced to come from behind. After holding serve to stay in the match, Alex and I brought a renewed focus and energy to the tie-break and got out to a 6-1 lead and won the tie-break 7-4.
The single matches were real battles, and it was great for our team to get a win. Eugene decided that winning his doubles match was not enough, as he clinched the match for us at singles after playing through a difficult injury. #P.J. Marranca# and I played on adjacent courts. Coincidentally, we both won our matches without dropping a game.
#Jason Sacher# pulled out a tough three-set win at #1 singles. He played a really solid player and it was great to see Jason play to his capabilities and get a win.
Eugene Tsarevskiy is a senior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 3-26-10
I am proud to say that we earned our first victory of the season, beating Drew on Thursday. It was a hard-fought win that came at just the right time, since we as a team desperately needed to turn our season around.
We got off to a rough start in doubles losing our first two matches. However, #Matt Gross# and #Alex Stoler# secured a much-needed doubles victory for us at the number one doubles spot. This victory seemed to turn the match around for us.
When singles started, we took the momentum and secured wins at the number four, five and six spots. I won my match first at the number four spot, then Matt won at the six spot, and #P.J. Marranca# won at the five spot. All of these matches were straight-set wins.
So, at that point the score was 4-2 for us and then Alex Zara won a hard-fought three setter to give us that first win of the season.
On the drive back from Drew we stopped at Five Guys and had a mini celebration with the best burgers in the world!
Our next match is this Sunday against Wilkes University. Hopefully, we can continue playing well and get our first home match of the season off to a good start.
Eugene Tsarevskiy is a senior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 3-17-10
The last few weeks have been very difficult. The week before spring break begins is always tough, because all the professor’s assign midterm essays to be handed in before the break starts. I had a 10-page paper and a three page paper due the two days leading up to spring break. So that is why I have not been able to update the blog.
I also had a few interviews last week for full-time positions after I graduate. I will let you know how they went as soon as I find out. I have been concentrating a good deal of time into finding a job after graduation. Hopefully, my hard work will pay off soon.
Last Thursday I went to an event for my UBS internship at the New York Stock Exchange. I was able to walk around on the exchange floor and even had my picture taken where they ring the bell every morning.
In terms of tennis, our season has gotten off to a pretty tough start. We have experienced a few injuries from guys at the top of the line-up and have been struggling as a result. We recently came back from playing our biggest rivals, Brandeis and Middlebury, at the Middlebury invitational.
Although, all of us fought to the best of our abilities we did not make out as well as I had hoped. However, our practices have been intense and looking forward I am still excited for the remainder of the season. We still have a majority of our matches to play and I think we will be able to turn it around.
Matt Gross is a junior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 2-22-10
Our team has undergone some changes over the past few months. This past weekend (Saturday, Feb. 20) we competed in our first match since October.
Unfortunately, it did not work out the way I had envisioned. Swarthmore plays extremely aggressive and it did not help our team that the courts were quite fast. Personally, I usually like faster surfaces, but not when I am playing against net rushers.
We lost 9-0. On a positive note, our team tried hard from the first point to the last point and that is all anyone can expect of us. While we can make many excuses as to why we didn't produce a better result, the fact remains that we were beaten by a better team on that day.
I will look at this loss as a motivating factor that will help me practice harder and better prepare for my next match.
I'll check back in after our March 5 match in Boston against Wheaton.
Matt Gross is a junior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 10-6-09
The fall season is now officially complete. Over the past two weeks, we competed against Princeton University’s JV team and in the Wilson ITA Regionals. While neither event was a complete success for the team, we were able to take away positive aspects and realize what we need to work on to improve in the spring.
At the Princeton Invitational we lost as a team 5-4. Another close match that just seemed to slip away. I was able to overcome four match points and win in a tie-breaker. While I definitely did not play near my best tennis, I was able to find a way to win. I have been trying to become a better competitor and this win definitely helped me. But now I, as well as other teammates, need to work on improving our conditioning. For this purpose we will be meeting a few times per week this off-season to workout and run sprints.
The ITA Regional Championships did not quite work out as I would’ve hoped. It was unfortunate that teammate Patrick Whitner was unable to defend his title as he suffered an injury in the finals against a player whom he had previously beaten twice last year. But Patrick still had a great tournament in making it to the finals. Jason Sacher also deserves a lot of credit for making it to the quarterfinals before losing an intense, emotional battle.
While this fall season may not have been as successful as we would have liked, our failures will help motivate us to work harder and get better for the spring.
Eugene Tsarevskiy is a senior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 9-28-09
It has been a rough couple of weeks for me. I have been sick and missed about two weeks worth of practices since we played Vassar on Sept. 16. Yesterday and today were actually my first two practices back.
The match against Vassar did not go well. On the trip up to Poughkeepsie, the weather seemed fine. When we were doing our warm-ups it started raining and we had to go indoors. The courts were awful and it felt like playing on an ice rink. Of course for the Vassar team it is not that bad since they are used to playing on the courts and probably practice on them night and day. It felt like they new exactly the spots to hit the ball on the court to win the point. Well, at least my opponent did.
We started with doubles and lost all three matches pretty quickly. Personally, I played third doubles and felt like I let my partner (Vikram Nayar) down. But, as a wise man once told me “you can’t win ‘em all”.
I was surprised to see that the rain had stopped when we came off the courts after the doubles. So we went to the outdoor courts, and I felt much better on them. I played third singles. My opponent and I held serve until it was 4-4 in the first set. I felt I was playing really well until the rain forced us indoors yet again.
Once indoors, I proceeded to win only two of the next 11 games and lost 7-5, 6-1. My play just did not convert well indoors. Last year we played them outdoors and we lost 5-4. This year the final tally was 9-0 in their favor.
I should mention that we did have a couple of good showings in singles, although no wins to show for it. My teammates competed hard. In particular, Matt Gross and Alex Zara had good showings. Everybody competed hard, but those two guys took their opponents to three sets, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
After we came back from Vassar, I felt really sick and even had a fever. I went to see my doctor and she told me to stay at home until I got better. I did not return to class until Thursday the 24th and to practice last night (the 27th). Surprisingly, I was hitting decently. Hopefully, this weekend when we head to ITA Regionals I can manage to put some kind of respectable performance in.
Matt Gross is a junior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 9-15-09
Tuesday night marked the last practice before our season officially begins. On Wednesday we travel to Vassar College to hopefully avenge last years 5-4 loss. Last year, I cramped in what ended up being the deciding match as I lost a tough three-setter. As I write this I am grimacing from my pre-match beverage- Pedialyte (picture orange Gatorade combined with cough syrup), but as long as I don't cramp it's worth it.
Losing two seniors in the starting lineup, Craig Berger and Calvin Chou, will be a challenge that the team will have to overcome. Everyone has taken steps over the summer to improve their games and are getting ready to fill the shoes left open by our respective graduates. We have also added three new players to the team after having around 20 players come to tryouts.
It's time for me to get some rest for the match tomorrow. Hopefully, the next post will describe our win over Vassar!
Wish us luck!
Eugene Tsarevskiy is a senior on the NYU men's tennis team. Periodically throughout the season, he will share his thoughts in this space.
Written 9-10-09
This is my first blog entry and I am excited to be back from a seemingly never- ending summer. For some reason this year I could not wait to get back to school. Maybe it was because I was working all summer. Anyway I am glad to be back.
I just returned from the first practice of the NYU men’s tennis team. It is kind of late right now, and since I commute from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, you can tell that I am very passionate about tennis and especially the NYU tennis team. Otherwise I would have to be crazy to make that kind of commitment.
The first day of practice went pretty smoothly. We met at Coles at around 8pm and we split up into three vans to get to the Harlem Armory, which is where we practice. It takes about a half hour to get to there, which is not too bad since we manage to keep ourselves entertained during the ride.
Eighteen people tried out today in addition to the seven returning players from last year. So we had a grand total of 25 players on six courts. I believe the coaches are trying to get down to a roster of 10, so it seems as though 18 people are competing for two spots, since one other person from last year could not make it to practice today.
The coaches looked to see if there were any bright spots among those trying out, while the returning players practiced together on two courts. We were supposed to have been practicing during the summer and it looked like for the most part everybody did. Tennis is tough, in that if you do not play for one or two days you lose your timing and can get rusty. Now imagine not playing for the entire summer. It would be pretty tough to come back and start playing amazing from the start. But again, it is the first day and there is no need to panic.
Our first match is next Wednesday against Vassar College. We lost a tight one to them last year 5-4, so I would like to get my revenge this time around. So, after cuts are made this week, I expect next week to be more intense as we get ready to kick off the fall season.
