The Pioneer men’s tennis team opened its fall season on Friday by playing at the Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor against the University of Notre Dame, University of Michigan and the University of Miami (Fla).
On the first day of this individually scored three-day tournament, Yannick Weihs, Johan Gunnarsson and Andrew Landwerlen led the Pioneers with victories at the No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 singles positions, respectively. Both Weihs and Gunnarsson impressed coaches and teammates in their singles debut for the Pioneers. Weihs, a native of Austria, rallied to victory over Michigan’s Peter Aarts by winning in a comeback fashion 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Gunnarsson, also an eastern European nativebut from Sweden, dropped his first set 4-6 in his match against Michigan’s George Navas, before schooling him in the last two sets 7-6, 6-0. While the tournament was individually scored with points awarded to players based on position, Landwerlen helped the Pioneers take three of the eight singles matches on Friday by defeating Michigan’s Chris Madden 6-2, 6-7, 7-6.
In doubles, the Pioneer men faced tough competition versus Notre Dame, losing all four of their first day matches. The Pioneers kept it close in three of the four matches, with Germany native Martin Zimmerman, also making his Pioneer tennis debut, and Landwerlen losing 5-8 at the No. 2 doubles position. The No. 3 and No. 4 doubles teams of Gunnarsson/Benny Althaus and Ravjott Dhatt/Varun Gunaseelen also narrowly lost their matches 7-9, 8-9 respectively.
“I was very happy with the way we competed in singles against Michigan, especially with three newcomers in the lineup,” said head coach Danny Westerman. “Our doubles needs to get a bit better, but if we can collectively compete as we did today in every match, we will be in good shape at the end of the year.”
In second day action, David Simson and Benny Althaus posted singles victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions against Notre Dame, helping the Pioneer men claim two of the eight singles matches. Simson defeated nationally ranked Brett Helgeson 7-5, 7-6 with his tenacious singles play.
“We did a better job in doubles today, but had a drop in singles. David had a great win against a top-25 player in Helgesen, which should give him the confidence to play with the best in the country,” said Westerman.
Playing with his partner Weihs at the No. 2 doubles position, Simson also pulled out the lone doubles victory on Saturday, beating a University of Miami team 8-6.
On Sunday, the Pioneers continued to find success on the singles court against the University of Miami with victories by Althaus at No. 2 singles and Dhatt at No. 7 singles. Althaus placed 11th overall in the individual tournament, followed closely by Simson, who placed 13th.
Even though the Pioneers struggled at some points in the tournament, specifically in doubles, they played aggressively in a highly competitive tournament against some of the most talented tennis players in the nation.
In their first competition of the year-the first matches in a DU uniform for three players-the Pioneers showed that they could indeed provide a formidable challenge to the best teams in the nation.
Having both the time and potential for improvement, the up-and-coming Pioneer men’s tennis team will surely turn heads and surprise both spectators and competitors alike in their next tournament, the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla. in early October.
