King of the courts

By Brian Steere

For some athletes, being the best in their sport is the only thing that matters. But for Michigan senior tennis player Matt Wright, it's been a strong commitment to both academics and athletics that's driven him to succeed.

With the season nearing its end and graduation approaching, Wright knows that he's about to conclude a chapter of his life. After playing on a tennis team for the past eight years, this season marks the final time that he will be able to share an experience with other teammates. But no matter what the future may bring, Wright's years as a tennis player have shaped him into the person that he is today. Through hard work and dedication, he's become a winner - both on and off the court.

Since he first picked up a tennis racket at age six, Wright fell in love with the sport.

No matter what he was doing or where he was going, Wright had a racket or a ball in his hand. Growing up in Wichita, Kan., he used to hit the ball for hours back and forth off the side of his house. When the weather turned bad, he made his parents move their cars so he could practice in the garage.

"I was an absolute fanatic for the game - I always wanted to play," Wright said. "I remember going back to that house a few years ago and still seeing the ball marks that I had made on the wall."

Soon, Wright moved his game onto real courts, but his endless practicing habits remained the same.

"We couldn't keep him off the court," said Wright's mother, Nancy. "Whether it was dragging his father and me out there to play with him or begging us for lessons, Matt always had a desire to play and to keep improving."

By the time he reached Wichita Collegiate High School in 1992, Wright had already established himself as a premier tennis player in the country. As a junior in the 12 and 14 age divisions of USTA, Wright finished No. 1 in the Missouri Valley when he was at the top of his age group, and he earned a national ranking in the Top 30 for both of those years.

It's no surprise that he had one of the greatest high school tennis careers in the history of the state of Kansas. Throughout his four years, Wright compiled a 110-0 overall singles record and won four consecutive individual state championships - a feat achieved by only two other players in the state's history.

When it was time to pick a college for tennis, Michigan was a distant third choice behind Texas Christian and Kansas.

"I remember vividly that I didn't want to get on the plane for my visit to Ann Arbor, but my mom dragged me," Wright said. "Then when I arrived on campus and saw what the school had to offer, I knew Michigan was the place for me. It had the best combination of tennis and academics, which made it the complete package."

When Wright arrived at Michigan in the fall of 1996, he joined a tennis team that had just won a Big Ten title the previous season.

"I was just hoping to make it into the top six of the lineup during that first season," Wright said. "But I think coach was expecting a lot more out of me, and he made me believe that I could be a great college player."

Former coach Brian Eisner certainly showed his confidence in Wright by making him the team's No. 1 singles player by the end of his freshman year. Wright responded with a 3-2 record at the top spot, including a 2-0 mark at the Big Ten Team Championships. His strong performance helped him become a member of the All-Big Ten Conference Team.

Despite dropping to second singles for his sophomore season, Wright went 24-13, and he tied for the team lead in dual match wins (15) and Big Ten victories (10).

Wright returned to the No. 1 spot for his final two seasons and developed into an outstanding college player. At the Big Ten Singles Championships this past January in East Lansing, Wright breezed to the final before falling 7-5, 6-4 to top-seeded Tyler Cleveland of Iowa. In addition, he made his second and third appearances on the All-Big Ten Conference Team along with serving his first two years as a member of the conference's All-Academic Team.

Despite these accolades, Wright would not hesitate to exchange them all for a Big Ten Team Championship.

"As you play more and more college tennis, you realize how important the team is," Wright said. "I only hope that I can finish my career with a Big Ten title."

A main reason for Wright's desire to win a Big Ten title stems from his relationship with the other three seniors on the team: John Long, Brad McFarlane, and Ron Nano.

"Coming in with those guys four years ago and growing with them through all of the good times and bad times has been something special," Wright said.

"Winning the Great Northwest Shootout in Seattle this season, and having the seniors close out the final match with two three-set victories was the greatest feeling of my college tennis career."

Despite the Wolverines' 2-4 record this year in the Big Ten, Wright feels that the players still have some magic left in themselves.

"We've had too much success for us to go down without a fight," Wright said. "I think that we're going to compete the hardest at the Big Ten Championships, and the other teams won't want to have to face us."

Although Wright's accomplishments reveal his greatness, he knows that he would not be where he is today without certain people in his life.

"I can't emphasize enough the importance of my parents over all these years," Wright said. "They gave me the opportunity to play tennis and have always supported me no matter if I won or lost."

The other special person in Wright's life is his girlfriend Liz Knorr, who followed him up to Michigan from Kansas.

"Without Liz I don't know where I'd be right now," Wright said. "She's been such a significant part of my life, especially when I was making the transition from high school to college."

As Wright prepares to graduate this spring from Michigan with a degree in political science, the future is wide open.

"I'm definitely going to keep playing tennis this summer, and hopefully I can do well I do in various satellite tournaments," Wright said. "If I can't compete at that level, I'll go to law school with Liz in the fall."

But Wright shouldn't worry about coming out on top. He already has.

Wright's record of dominance over the years

Juniors

n No. 1 in Missouri

Valley his second year

in all age divisions

(12's, 14's, 16's, 18's)

n Ranked in top 30 of

the nation for USTA

every year of his junior

career

Prep

n Compiled a 110-0

singles record and won

four consecutive state

championships

n Appeared in Sports

Illustrated "Faces in the

Crowd," July 1, 1996

after his senior season

College

n Three-time All-Big

Ten Conference Team.

Two-time All-Big Ten

Academic Team

n Reached the final of

the Big Ten Singles

Championships during

his senior season