Regrets will be few and far between for the men's tennis team as the fall season has come to a close.
The Jumbos traveled to Bates this past weekend and entered eight players in both the singles and doubles portions of the individual single-elimination tournament. Three Jumbos got to at least the third round of their respective singles brackets and three of the four doubles teams won at least one match.
Tufts entered two players in each of the four singles brackets and two doubles teams in each of the two doubles brackets.
In the singles A bracket, Tufts had little success, as both senior captain Will Fleder and sophomore Jon Trott lost their first-round matches. Fleder was not in perfect condition this weekend, as he continued to be plagued by a muscle pull he suffered a few weeks ago. Trott was healthy for his singles match but felt as though he should have done some things differently.
"I felt like I was pretty steady and had good ground strokes," said Trott, who dropped his match 6-3, 6-2. "I was up 3-2 in the first set but he didn't miss much, and I was not patient enough."
In the B bracket, Tufts had more success. Sophomore Andrew Rosen advanced with a three-set first-round win before beating up on Bates senior Danilo Acosta 6-3, 6-3 in his second match. Rosen then fell in a hard fought super-tiebreaker to drop his third round match 6-3, 4-6, (10-6) to Amherst freshman Sean Doerfier.
"Andrew would have beaten the guy he played in the third round four out of five times, but it was Andrew's third match of the day and fatigue was an issue," coach Doug Eng said. "He ran out of gas and had to change his game plan in the second set."
"Andrew had a great day," Trott added. "He played five matches on Saturday and was exhausted but battled through them."
Also in the B bracket, freshman Jake Fountain got a bye in the first round and took his second-round match in straight sets before playing Colby junior Alex Chin in the third.
Chin and Fountain exchanged sets and played a very even match, but Fountain squeaked out the win in the third-set super-tiebreaker, 6-2, 2-6, (12-10). In the semifinal round of the B bracket, Fountain faced off against Middlebury sophomore Eliot Jia. He took the match to three sets but eventually lost by a tally of 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.
"He missed [ITA Regional Championships], so he got his first real test here," Eng said. "We know he is a fighter and we were impressed with the way he played. He was serving up 5-2 in the third set of the match he lost, so we would have liked to see him get to the finals, but he had a good tournament. He needs to develop a better serve but has a great all-court game."
Fountain had to fight through more than his opponent, as the weather served as a great disadvantage to him.
"Jake is from the Bahamas and I think the cold really got to him at first," Trott said. "He said he couldn't feel his hands during the first set, but he fought through it."
In the C bracket, freshman Tony Carucci got a first-round win but lost in three sets in his second-round match. Sophomore Bryan Wilner was without his contact lenses and had trouble seeing the ball, but still managed to win a set in his first round match before falling in the third set super-tiebreaker.
Sophomore Daniel Landers managed an impressive showing in the D bracket by winning his first two matches in three sets before taking on Middlebury freshman Ben Wietz and falling in straight sets.
"Daniel had a very nice tournament and he should be happy with his results," Eng said. "He is finding his singles game."
In doubles, the duos of Fountain and Carucci, and Rosen and freshman Jared Glick got one win each before being knocked out. Wilner and Trott had more success, beating up on the first two pairs they faced with decisive 8-1 scores in each round. The two Jumbos then lost to Skidmore freshmen Lorenzo Cabrera and Spencer Cheng by a score of 8-5.
"We played with chemistry and anticipated each other's court movements," Trott said. "We play a similar game and we have been playing together for a while. I think we just need to attack and close in on net more, so that we can put volleys away and finish points."
The tournament closes the fall season for the Jumbos, who finished with a handful of promising individual results in tournaments and a 2-0 dual match record.
"I think we are a stronger team than last year," Trott said. "I think we will be well prepared for the spring season."
Trott emphasized that the team's main focus in the offseason will be fitness and working to improve endurance, while Eng plans to try to improve the singles game.
"I think our doubles is very close to where we wanted it, but singles is a little behind target," he said. "In the spring we will work on it more."
