Section A·Page 12
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, October 1, 1999
Matches to help coach evaluate younger players
Kansas junior Ed Dus leans into the court after serving to his opponent. Dus is one of seven Jayhawks traveling to Tulsa, Okla., this weekend to play at the Hurricane Tennis Invitational. Photo by Kate Levenson/KANSAN
By Melinda Weaver sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's tennis team will be able to scout regional teams this weekend at its first team tournament of the season.
The Jayhawks will compete against Arkansas, Southern Methodist and Oklahoma State in the seventh annual Hurricane Tennis Invitational in Tulsa, Okla.
"If we get the opportunity to play schools that we could play again, we get a feel for what the players are like and what they do," said senior Bryan Maier. "It gives us a chance to do a little scouting."
The tournament is called a hidden duel because there is no individual or team winner. The format will give Kansas coach Mark Riley a chance to scout his own players, not just regional opponents.
He is sending tennis players Quentin Blakeney, Ed Dus, Sebastian Libertino, Elearaz Magellan, Maier and Pete Stroer and plans to shake up the lineup a little to give his younger players more experience.
once.
"The one, two and three spots are interchangeable, and so are the four, five and six spots, so I will be able to see the guys play in different spots." Riley said. "I have seen everyone play at national caliber except Quentin, Bryan and Pete. I am going to play them at one, two and three to see how they can do against national caliber opponents."
Because Kansas has a young team with only two upperclassmen, Riley said he would use the fall season to evaluate his players and to determine his spring lineup.
"We are going to try some
different doubles combinations to see who works well together," Riley said. "I am playing Dus, Libertino and Magellan at the four, five and six spots, but that has nothing to do with where the guys are in the lineup. This is still an evaluating situation."
So far, Riley said he had been pleased with this season's team.
"They have a good focus about them." Riley said. "In the past, they have been able to depend on an All-American like Enrique (Aboarra) or Luis (Uribe), but now they don't have that. They have to put it
together as a group, not just sit around and wait for someone else to pick up the slack. I think they know that if they all bring something to the table, we can be very successful, even more successful than last season."
Does this add any extra pressure to Maier, the only senior? "I don't feel much pressure to do anything different," Maier said. "The coaches talked to me about being more responsible for myself and for the team. It is a young team, and I need to give guidance if they need it."
- Edited by Melody Ard
Tennis standouts to participate in inaugural coed tournament
By Brent Briggeman and Melinda Weaver sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriters
Brooke Chiller and Julia Sidorova had seen it all in Kansas tennis.
Or so they thought.
Chiller and Sidorova are the only seniors on the women's tennis team. They have won tournaments in both singles and doubles at every level of play. They were both ranked in the top 10 in their home countries as juniors. Chiller is from Australia, Sidorova is from Latvia.
The two senior captains will travel this weekend to Palo Alto, Calif., to play doubles in the first ever World Team Tennis championships.
"We've been here the longest, so we sort of know the ropes," Sidorova said. "But this will be different."
To play with that kind of experience, one might think nothing could be new.
Mixed doubles, that is.
Chiller and Sidorova will team up with male Jayhawk counterparts Alex Barragan and Rodrigo Echagarray to play in the inaugural tournament. The coed tournament
The Kansas team was one of 15 programs selected to take part in the inaugural event. The tournament's format requires each school to accumulate points through performances in men's and women's singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles.
"In Australia we'd play a lot of mixed when we were young," Chiller said. "But it's been a long time, plus that was usually on grass surfaces."
Chiller and Sidorova have both played mixed doubles before, but never at this level of competition.
is the first of its kind for collegiate tennis.
The men and women didn't practice together before making the trip. They planned on using the practice session yesterday to figure out which combinations would work and then adjust to the different kind of game.
play's.
"I played mixed in high school," Sidorova said of her experiences in Latvia. "It's just a different type of game. You've got to figure in the guy's power."
dy's power.
Sidorova said she and Chiller
"We'll just see how it goes," she said.
Echagaray said that he was looking forward to working with Chiller and Sidorova.
were both excited about the tournament. Though she wasn't sure what to expect from the weekend, she didn't appear worried.
"It will be cool because we are so close," Echagaray said. "We are all really good friends. We have had great support from them in the past, and now we will get the chance to work together."
Kansas will compete against schools such as Duke, Stanford and Notre Dame, but Ehagaray said they did not feel any pressure.
"The teams that have all the pressure are the prestigious teams because they are supposed to win." Echagaray said. "We have nothing to lose. We face different pressure, the kind that comes when you really want to win. It's a different kind of pressure, and it isn't as intense."
or pressure, and then
Working without Chiller and
Sidorova, the rest of the women's
tennis team will play at the Rice
Invitational in Houston. Purdue,
Texas Christian, Houston, Tulane
and Virginia will be at the meet.
— Edited by Ronnie Wachter
Agassi ousted from Grand Slam Cup
The Associated Press
MUNICH, Germany — Andre Agassi made a quick exit yesterday from the most lucrative tournament in the world and talked little about his relationship with Steffi Graf, who was not there to see him lose.
tournament nearly three weeks ago. The rustiness showed.
At least the world's top-ranked player pocketed $242,500 to sweeten his 6-0, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 loss to Tommy Haas, a 21-year-old German.
Haas upset the U.S. Open champions to move into the semifinals of the $6.7 million Grand Slam Cup, which gives out more money per player than any other tournament.
Agassi, who had a bye into the quarterfinals, had not played since winning the year's final Grand Slam
"It's always tough, your first match after a few weeks away, especially after a long summer." Agassi said. "He served big on some crucial points. I was missing a lot of shots."
For the first time in three days, the
Agassi: Was rusty after three weeks of not playing
Munich Olympic hall was nearly full to see the showdown between the rises.
ing German hope and the man whose romance with Graf, the retired German star, has dominated headlines in Germany.
Agassi slowed after Haas broke his serve for a 4-1 lead in the third.
"I felt tired, which was a surprise. I felt so sharp the whole summer," Agassi said.
Agassi and Graf arrived in Munich together on Tuesday, but immediately parted ways. Graf reportedly went briefly to Austria and Berlin before returning home to Heidelberg late Wednesday.
Agassi said he would stay in Munich to practice before going to a tournament in Basel, Switzerland, next week. He said Graf would not be joining him in Munich.
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