For the past dozen years or so, the UW men's tennis team had been familiar with the cellar of the Big Ten. The program hadn't finished higher than a tie for fifth place in the conference since 1994, and hadn't reached the NCAA Tournament since 1998, when they suffered a 6-1 defeat in the first round to Duke.
This year's squad, however, is a different story. Currently ranked No. 38 in the country, the Badgers finished the regular season with a 6-4 record in the Big Ten, good for fourth place, matching their highest finish since coming in third in 1990. Add to that a date with No. 32 Washington in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this Friday and the first all-conference Badger freshman since 1977 in Moritz Baumann, and you have an elite program poised to remain in the upper echelon of the conference for the next several seasons.
One of the main reasons for this turnaround has been head coach Greg Van Emburgh. Most recently an associate head coach at Kentucky, Van Emburgh was an ATP tour professional from 1988-1999. During that time, the Naples, Fla., native won seven ATP tour doubles events and was a Wimbledon doubles semifinalist in 1990.
Van Emburgh inherited a less-than-stellar program in 2005 and has turned it into a winner in a little less than two years.
""I think a lot of it comes from hard work,"" said assistant coach Evan Austin, who was also coached by Van Emburgh at Kentucky. ""He works the phones probably more than any coach in the country—he's got a lot of contacts that he played with on the [ATP] tour, and a lot of coaches. He knows everybody.""
As a result, recruiting has been a big part of the Badgers' resurgence. Van Emburgh's first recruiting class, which includes freshmen Baumann, Michael Dierberger and Michael Muskievicz, has made an immediate impact since setting foot on campus. Baumann, who was recently named a member of the 2007 All-Big Ten first team, leads the team in dual matches with 16 singles victories and is now playing at No. 1 singles. Dierberger and Muskievicz have also made key contributions throughout the season, most notably in the team's 4-3 upset victory over then-No. 10 Miami Feb. 5. The duo collected a doubles victory to help UW secure the crucial doubles point, and Dierberger notched a singles win at the No. 5 spot.
""A lot of players look at his playing experience,"" Austin said. ""Juniors will look at that and say, ‘Well, he's been somewhere that I want to be.' So that helps him a lot in the recruiting process. He's done a good job already in a year, bringing in three guys that have had big impacts. I think that's going to be something that continues.""
Additionally, almost immediately after Van Emburgh was hired at UW, junior Nolan Polley, a Lexington, Ky., native, left his home state to play for Van Emburgh at Wisconsin. Polley busted out onto the scene last year, registering a team-leading 30 wins to just 10 losses in singles as well as a 12-5 record at No. 1 doubles with classmate Jeremy Sonkin, also tops on the team.
""I knew that he would turn around whatever program he started coaching,"" Polley said. ""He's helped me refine the mental part of my game so much, and we've all improved because of him. It wasn't an easy decision, but I feel I made the right choice.
""He's changed the whole attitude of the program,"" Polley added. ""He loves winning and he hates losing.""
Van Emburgh's competitive nature as a player and a coach comes through in his players, Austin said.
""You're out on the court and you see how bad he wants it,"" Austin said of Van Emburgh. ""It's only going to make you want it just as bad. It shows when he gets so excited when we win, and when we have tough losses, how upset he is. That rubs off on all the guys.""
