With only two winning seasons since 1992, the UW men's tennis team has struggled to return to the excellence the team displayed in the '70s and '80s, which yielded only two losing seasons in the entire 20 year period. However, with a 2-0 start and the addition of a new head coach that knows how to win as well as two quality transfer players, the outlook for the spring season is the brightest it has been in a long time.
'Just having a good start was important, you start the season looking for the guys to gain confidence, gain momentum,' said head coach Greg Van Emburgh, who never finished below No. 15 in the national rankings in his last four years as a Kentucky assistant coach. 'We have a really good shot at finishing in the top tier of the Big Ten.'
'The team really has improved, right now we're just working on building with what we have and moving forward with it,' UW sophomore Jeremy Sonkin said. 'If we keep working hard and giving it all that we've got, we'll get to where we want to be.'
The Badgers have not lost a single match this season, and a big reason for that is the play of sophomore transfers Nolan Polley (from Kentucky) and Brennen Phippen (from Furman). Nolan had an instant impact upon arrival, winning the Big Ten singles championship in the fall while going 13-5.
'[Winning the singles championship] was probably the most exciting thing I've ever done in tennis. I've never won any huge titles before,' Polley said. 'I just played really well that week.'
'Having a lefty like Nolan is always an advantage. Nobody wants to play a lefty,' Sonkin said. 'It's really good to have a player like him that can play high in the lineup and get those crucial matches we're going to need down the line.'
Phippen's start is nothing to discount either. A 6-3 record in the fall shot him to the No. 3 spot in singles matches and could get him a doubles spot in the near future.
'Phippen is another solid player that's going to be playing in the lineup, singles and doubles,' Van Emburgh said.
The catalyst for the team, however, remains Sonkin, who went 24-12 in singles last spring and is currently the No. 1 singles and doubles player on the team. In his career, Sonkin has only once lost consecutive matches and has the potential to be extremely dominant.
'Jeremy is probably one of the most underrated college players right now as far as his ranking and results,' Van Emburgh said. 'He's a top 40 college player and the ranking's not there, it's just a matter of him getting a couple of those big wins that puts him in the upper echelon.'
The next few weeks are pivotal for the Badgers, as they take a four game road trip that includes No. 9 Pepperdine and No. 23 Notre Dame. The stiff competition will certainly reveal if this Wisconsin team can recapture some past magic.
'It'll show whether we really believe we belong with the better teams,' Polley said. 'Obviously this program's struggled in the past, but everyone on the team now wants to make this program one of the best in the nation.'
'We just have to go out there and play, we've got nothing to lose,' Sonkin said. 'We're all very confident in going to California and just looking to have a great trip.'
