Hi UT Tennis Fan,
I hope your weekend is off to a good start! Our team will be practicing tomorrow morning, and then will enjoy the first weekend off from competition since the weekend of January 4! That's a lot of tennis! Our move to the SEC just did not leave us much flexibility in our schedule at all. We have had our fair share of injuries, but I give a lot of credit to our 9 players for their toughness and consistency this year.
To brag on their season a bit, we will enter the NCAA tournament (which starts on Saturday, May 3 at the Texas Tennis Center) with a record of 25-4, the #3 ranking in the country, and both the SEC regular season and SEC tournament championships. We also have the #1 ranked player in the country, as Timo Legout became the 3rd Longhorn to reach the #1 spot in the last two seasons (4th player if you count Sebastian Gorzny who was #1 in the unpublished rankings in the Fall). Timo, Sebastian, and Pierre-Yves Bailly were all named to the SEC First Team, while Timo was named both the SEC Freshman of the Year and the SEC Player of the Year. Our team was also honored as the most outstanding in the conference with the Coach of the Year award. For a full summary of these honors, please click on this press release.
The NCAA draw and schedule will be released on Monday, and I will be back in touch then with all the details. I can tell you now, though, that we are 100% expecting to be the host site for the first 3 rounds, with the first two rounds being on Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4. If we are able to find our way through those matches, the round of 16 match would also be at the Texas Tennis Center on Saturday, May 10. Of course, nothing is guaranteed and we will have to earn our way through tough opponents each round, but if we manage to do that, the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will be in Waco on May 16, 17, and 18. I am telling you this now, just so you can carve out those dates on your calendar. If we manage to make it to Waco we will be calling on all Longhorns to give us a home state advantage!
I'll be back in touch on Monday or Tuesday with the specifics of our NCAA draw. Have a great weekend, and Hook'em!
Sincerely,
Bruce Berque