Rockets drop their first two MAC match0ups

Lost to Ball State

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/3/18/...?path=mten

and to Northern Illinois

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/3/19/...?path=mten

Rockets lost to Binghamton 4-3.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/3/27/...?path=mten

Rockets lose to Buffalo 5-2

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/4/2/m...?path=mten

Kind of speaks to tennis in the US. Six of the players on the Toledo team are from other countries (Serbia, Croatia, Mexico) and the other 3 are from Ohio. Tennis was a popular sport back when Jimmy Connors and McEnroe were playing and then started dropping off despite having Agassi and Sampras around. It's been forever since there has been an American winning one of the majors in tennis (2003?) when Agassi and Andy Roddick won in the same year. That's a long dry spell. I don't follow tennis at all anymore and could not name the highest ranked US men's tennis player.


Young team - so there may be some potential here for the future.

(04-03-2016 08:29 AM)MotoRocket Wrote:  Kind of speaks to tennis in the US. Six of the players on the Toledo team are from other countries (Serbia, Croatia, Mexico) and the other 3 are from Ohio. Tennis was a popular sport back when Jimmy Connors and McEnroe were playing and then started dropping off despite having Agassi and Sampras around. It's been forever since there has been an American winning one of the majors in tennis (2003?) when Agassi and Andy Roddick won in the same year. That's a long dry spell. I don't follow tennis at all anymore and could not name the highest ranked US men's tennis player.


Young team - so there may be some potential here for the future.

America has totally dominated the women's side (well, the Williams' sisters have) and are a non-entity on the men's. I see indoor clubs being converted to generic health clubs all over the country. Laurel Hills closed and has a different name not dealing with tennis - don't know if they still have indoor courts or not. Played there a lot when my daughter played for AW. Now I don't know anyone who plays.

I still know a ton of folks who play tennis. I don't anymore, but that's for health reasons, and I would if I could.

You'll find that most schools at the MAC level have quite a number of foreign students on their rosters. That's not, I don't think, as much about not having many American players to choose from, but more that in the US college tennis has never been thought of highly as a viable choice for a promising player. If you are a good enough player when you are young, you tend to get funneled into the sports academy life, and are encouraged to go pro fairly early (by 17-18 usually). There are noticeable exceptions (John McEnroe in the olden days, and John Isner - who is the highest ranked US player now) but very few top pros come out of the college ranks. College is an option for players just below that level, but fewer and fewer seem to choose it.

A lot of foreign players though, see tennis as a means to get into a US college and get an education, so they are chomping at the bit to play for a college team in the US. In many of the countries you see the tennis players come from, there isn't the equivalent support system for the young pros as there is in the US, so even if they are promising. So, unless they are one of the top few players in their country, they might not be able to afford to pursue a pro career at so young an age anyway. So, US college is a really good option for them if they aren't seen as a top pro prospect.

It's true that the US has been in a long slump at the top of the pro ranks in the last decade of so, especially on the men's side. Don't completely understand why that is, but things have always tended to ebb and flow as to which countries dominate. There are a couple really promising teenagers right now that may change that. We'll have to wait and see.

By the way, I don't think a lot of people know how good our #1 player is this year, due to the overall team record. Stjepan Sisko is 17-3 overall, including 13-2 in dual meets, and 3-0 so far in the MAC. He defeated the only ranked opponent he faced (in a completed match), and has won 13 straight matches. He had an unfinished match against the #7 ranked player from O$U, where he was trailing, but the score was tight.

He's also 14-9 in doubles matches - the only Rocket with a with a winning record in doubles.

Rockets lost to Northern Illinois 4-3 on Sunday, eliminating UT's chance to get into the MAC tournament. UT is now 0-5 in the MAC.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/4/10/...?path=mten

UT lost to Ball State on Friday. Last match of the season is Saturday - UT faces Western Michigan.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/4/22/...?path=mten

Rockets finish a winless conference season with a loss to Western Michigan. Season ends with this one.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/4/23/...?path=mten

As a team, the Rockets had a miserable season. Even so, Stjepan Sisko is the MAC Player of the Year. Congratulations to him.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/5/3/m...?path=mten

Tennis team headed to Croatia.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/5/31/...?path=mten

First look at the team's overseas trip -

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/6/5/m...?path=mten

Second update on the trip -

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/6/10/...?path=mten

Just wondering. A lot of UT teams take European trips where the drinking age is 18 or younger. Are under 21 Rocket players allowed to drink?

Stjepan Sisko to represent the MAC in a tennis tournament this fall.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/6/15/...?path=mten

Three frosh tennis players earn academic recognition. Congratulations to them.

http://www.utrockets.com/news/2016/7/22/...?path=mten