Solid all-around squad gives 'M' tennis big-time potential

How can the Wolverines be this good?

It may be premature to say anything ... but this is the best Michigan men's tennis team in years.

But what makes these Wolverines so dominant? A prime example has been their performance the past two weekends, when Michigan had little trouble dominating Big Ten opponents. It seems that all season - the fall tournaments, the Rolex regionals, and the dual-matches - Michigan has dominated.

As with any top team, there have been bumps in the road, including close losses to top 20 teams South Florida and Boise State, plus the shutout loss to Virginia Commonwealth.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Junior Will Farah is one of a number of reasons the Michigan men's tennis team has been so successful this season.

But overall, the season has been a tremendous success. Here are the reasons Michigan has a chance to make some noise as the NCAA Championships approach.

* Top-notch coaching: When it comes to the Michigan coaches, you're talking about the best. Brian Eisner earned his 500th win this season and his 35 years of coaching and 18 conference titles place him in the top 20 in NCAA history.

Dan Goldberg - the winningest singles player in Michigan history - has smoothly made the transition from player to assistant coach.

* Deadly Depth: Michigan has one of the top singles sets in the region, if not the best.

Senior David Paradzik, at No. 1 singles, has settled down in the past few weeks and consistently beaten top players.

Senior Arvid Swan has been a force at No. 2 singles with a 23-9 record this year and currently is 10th all-time at Michigan in career single wins at 79-55.

The four other singles spots are all held by strong players - senior captain Brook Blain, juniors Will Farah and Jake Raiton, and two up-and-coming sophomores in Matt Wright and John Long.

* Steady Veterans: If there was ever a time for Michigan to make a national championship run, it is now. It is extremely hard for northern teams to compete with the warm-weather squads from the south or west due to recruiting problems.

But Michigan has earned third place at the NCAA Championships twice under Eisner, and this year's team - with its leadership - could make a run once again.

With four seniors and two juniors, leadership and knowledge are all crucial assets.

"Our players have been in this position before," Goldberg said. "We have a lot of confidence and experience, which rubs off on our younger players."

The question marks last season were the doubles teams. Inconsistent play led to several wins by weaker teams, but this season, Michigan has won every match when it carried the doubles point.

The three losses, however, all were in part due to doubles match defeats.

"If we can consistently win doubles, I don't see any team in the country that can win four out of six singles against us," Goldberg said.

And only one other thing might be able to stop them - the weather.

Take this weekend, for example, when Mother Nature proved a little difficult for the Wolverines. Playing outside for just the second time this season, the high winds in Bloomington gave Michigan some problems.

Still, the wind couldn't overpower Michigan's singles strength, as the Wolverines won the close points when they needed to, squeaking out five wins in a 6-1 victory over the Hoosiers.

The victory kept Michigan (2-0 Big Ten, 7-3 overall) undefeated in Big Ten play while giving Indiana (2-1, 7-6) its first Big Ten loss.

Conference win-loss records will determine the seedings for the Big Ten Championships, which start on April 30.

"Conditions were difficult," Goldberg said. "Fortunately, we had the experience out at the Boise tournament, but there the conditions were nicer - no wind, very calm - here it was extremely windy, which makes the matches a lot tighter."

04-01-98