University of Tennessee Athletics
Quotes: Men's Tennis Opening Weekend
January 16, 2017 | Men's Tennis
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Tennessee Head Coach Sam Winterbotham
(Opening Statement)
“We knew North Florida was going to be a very good team. They had better energy than us in doubles, and it showed in the performance. It was a good shock to our system, and our guys rebounded very well though. I thought the effort in singles and the closeness of the team was fantastic. Luis and Timo’s performance at 1 and 2 reminded me of our successful teams when we are extremely competitive at 1 and 2.”
Tennessee Senior Sunay Bhat
(Overview of opening weekend)
“It was good. I think we always pride ourselves on getting off to a good start. These are good, energetic teams coming in and we always want to show that we’re putting ourselves at a high level, getting wins like this and setting ourselves up for the rest of the season. It’s a young team, a lot of young guys out there, but I thought they did an excellent job handling some tough situations and closing when they needed to, so it was good to see.”
(On rebounding after losing the doubles point to North Florida)
“That’s a big thing for us moving forward. Last year, we won and lost by the doubles point a lot. It’s good to be able to build our confidence to know we don’t have to tie ourselves to that. We have a lot of really capable singles players out there. You have to learn that sometimes. An experience like that early on is better than losing the doubles point later on and feeling like you are behind seven points. You’ve got to fight for all of them, so that’s good.
(On clinching the win against Austin Peay)
“It’s always good. It’s different. It’s definitely a great feeling, but my attitude is always about the team and getting the team win. That’s more important for me.”
Tennessee Junior Luis Valero
(On clinching win against North Florida)
“It started off as a tough doubles match. We had lost to them last year and wanted a little bit of rematch, but they’re good doubles player. In singles, I thought () had a big serve and a decent forehand. Off the ground, I was able to control the points. I just tried to make him think a little on the serve, changing my return position and make him miss a little. I took advantage when I got the break.”
(On regrouping after the doubles point)
“It’s good that we are not depending as much on the doubles point. We have a team that is good all around with really good singles players. I think the last couple of years, we were really good at doubles and put a huge amount of importance on doubles — which it has — but there’s still six more points on the board and we have six really good singles players.”
(On newcomers’ performances)
“Scotty Jones is really good. He impressed me. Luca was just taking care of court 6 and getting off the court really quick. That really helps. This morning, that was huge. We were 1-0 down and 30 minutes later, we were tied 1-1. We were right there. They were doing great. Timo pulled out a great match at No. 1. Srdjan’s just a beast. Jack took care of business as well and Sunay for the clincher. I thought it was a good weekend overall. Long but good to get these wins and get ready for Georgia Tech.”
