As the Arizona men’s tennis team faces off against Northwestern today, there are several factors to be taken into consideration.
The No. 20 Wildcats (14-1) are on a 12-match winning streak, boast an undefeated record at home and they’ve shutout their past three opponents 7-0. Arizona’s also had three Pacific 10 Conference Players of the Week during the course of the season and freshman Jason Zafiros has yet to lose a singles match all year During spring break, the Wildcats defeated Cal Poly and No. 52 Iowa, both matches at home, and again play at the Robson Tennis Center for today’s match at 10 a.m. against No. 58 Northwestern.
“”We played our best,”” sophomore Andres Carrasco said of the team’s showing over the past week. “”It was a great effort, all the guys supporting each other. We beat them both 7-0, and they were both good teams.””
Carrasco also indicated that the team’s four days off during the break will enable them to reap even more benefits.
“”Spring break was great for us, to rest, not think about tennis,”” he said. “”We are all fresh and ready to start the second part of the season.””
It is also important, however, to take into account that today marks the last of Arizona’s non-conference matches. In spite of taking on several ranked opponents – like Florida and Texas Tech – the Wildcats have yet to share a court this season with a team from the highly competitive Pac-10.
“”We’re not nervous, we’re just excited. We’ve been great until now, but now is what really matters,”” Carrasco said. “”It’s the most important part of the season. We want to be in a good position to step out (today) and keep doing what we have been doing and just win. It will give us the perfect confidence to start our conference season.””
Evidence of the Pac-10’s heightened level of play can be seen in its stronghold over the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. As of this week, Stanford is ranked fourth in the nation, USC is ranked eighth, UCLA sits at No. 11, Washington occupies the No. 26 spot and California is pegged at No. 43.
“”All of the teams are going to be really, really tough,””
Carrasco said. “”Obviously USC and Stanford will be better than the others. But I think we are also really good, and I don’t see how we can’t beat all those teams out there. I think we have the potential. I want to go step by step though, beginning with Northwestern.””
