Being sick is so last week for the Arizona women’s tennis team.

The Wildcats are in Seattle to play No. 49 Washington today at noon, and then they’ll travel to Pullman tomorrow to battle No. 41 Washington State.

Victory seems like a distant dream with the team in a six-match slump, but the players continue to set their sights high and focus on their team.

“”We’re just working on staying together as a team; we try not to let our spirits get down,”” said freshman Claire Cox. “”Our main goal for the weekend is to make sure we are capitalizing on all the opportunities we’re given. In past matches, we’ve been given so many chances, and now we just need to do a better job to close them.””

Every player is different in her style of preparation and performance.

Team captain and No. 38 Danielle Steinberg has been paying close attention to her feel of the ball in practice, but thinks that as a team the Wildcats should stay focused only on the future.

“”We try to put the matches we lost behind us,”” Steinberg said. “”We’ve been focusing on this weekend for about two weeks now. It’s probably our biggest weekend of the season.””

A big part of success is to be familiar with one’s opponent. Steinberg has this ingredient going into her singles match against Washington State.

“”Washington State’s No. 1 player (Ekaterina Burduli) is from Israel as well,”” said Steinberg, also an Israeli. “”We played each other about a hundred times over there. And I’ve played her every year since I got here freshman year.””

All aspects of an opposing team are considered before the match is played, but it’s not uncommon for one to be over- or underestimated.

“”Rankings don’t mean everything,”” Cox said.

Men’s tennis to fine-tune skills this weekend

Work ethic varies from player to player in the world of college tennis, with some needing to focus on one aspect of the game and others needing to look at the big picture.

The No. 65 Arizona men’s tennis team plays No. 23 Washington at the Robson Tennis Center today at 1:30 p.m., and against Oregon on Sunday at 11 a.m.

The team knows what it has to do to prepare in order to be successful against its opponents this weekend.

“”We’re just trying to work on fine-tuning some little things that the guys need help with,”” said head coach Tad Berkowitz. “”We’ve lost some close matches, but we’re looking to stay aggressive with doubles and go after our shots. We’re doing a good job in putting ourselves in position to win matches, but we still need to keep the intensity high.””

Junior Peter Zimmer’s personal goal is more specific than the overall goal for the team.

“”I’ve been working on trying to get into a rhythm and finding my game,”” he said. “”And I’d say that after coming out of five pretty close losses, everyone’s focusing on their development and finding rhythm as well.””

Losing five matches in a row would be rough on any team. Berkowitz realized this, but gave tough love right back.

“”It toughens you up, especially when we have a couple of injuries,”” Berkowitz said. “”It really forces the other guys to step up their game.””

The Wildcats hope past trends don’t continue this weekend and look ahead to brighter outcomes, but they remain wary of the underdog teams.

“”Oregon is a little weaker team than us,”” Zimmer said. “”So when we play them, we can’t get complacent or just assume that we’re better than them.””