The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
SMU
No. 20 Men’s Tennis Preview: SMU
01.27.2016 | Men's Tennis
Longhorns host SMU Thursday evening at Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
WHAT: No. 20 Texas (3-3) continues its opening month of dual-match play with a home contest this week against No. 46 SMU.
WHEN/WHERE
Thursday, Jan. 28 – 6 p.m. CT
Weller Indoor Tennis Center (The University of Texas Golf Club)
2200 University Club Drive
Austin, Texas 78732
LIVE SCORING
Available at TexasSports.com
LAST TIME OUT
Texas took on No. 21 Florida and No. 17 Ole Miss as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event (Jan. 23-24). The Longhorns suffered a 4-0 defeat to Florida and a narrow 4-3 loss to Ole Miss.
LAST MEETING AGAINST SMU
Texas dealt SMU a 4-2 defeat on Jan. 31, 2015 in Dallas.
ORTIZ OFF TO SOLID START
Texas sophomore Adrian Ortiz is off to an excellent start in 2016 with his unblemished 4-0 singles mark that includes wins over a pair of ranked opponents. Ortiz knocked off UCSB's 81st-ranked Nicolas Moreno and Washington's 121st-ranked Jake Douglas in the Longhorns trip to Seattle earlier this month.
He followed that effort with a come-from-behind 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Ole Miss' Grey Hamilton last Sunday at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event. Ortiz also teamed with senior Michael Riechmann to notch a 6-3 win over Ole Miss' Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic in doubles.
LONGHORNS FEATURED IN PRESEASON SINGLES AND DOUBLES RANKINGS
Freshman Harrison Scott ranks No. 94 in the ITA men's singles rankings after posting a 10-2 fall record and winning the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational title last September. The Canadian defeated a pair of ranked foes in 82nd-ranked Romain Kalaydjian of San Diego and 73rd-ranked Trevor Johnson of TCU. Scott also ranks 46th in doubles with John Mee.
Senior Michael Riechmann ranks 114th in the ITA men's singles rankings after producing an 11-4 fall singles record. Riechmann opened his fall season by winning the main singles draw at the Rice Invitational. He added a pair of wins at the Porsche Napa Valley Tennis Classic and reached the qualifying singles draw at the ITA All-American Championships.
The ITA will release updated player rankings on Feb. 10.
CENTER RETURNS FOR 16TH SEASON, WELCOMES NEW STAFF
Michael Center returns for his 16th season at the helm of the Texas men's tennis program. The four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year led the Longhorns to their second-straight top-10 final ranking last season as Texas reached the round of 16 at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
A pair of Center's pupils reached the pinnacle of their sport last May when Soren Hess-Olesen and Lloyd Glasspool won the first NCAA doubles title for Texas since 1944.
Center turned to a pair of familiar faces to fill the vacancies on his coaching staff. Bruce Berque, who served as a volunteer coach at Texas last season, is in his first season as an associate head coach under Center.
Berque filled the position previously held by longtime associate head coach Ricardo Rubio, who accepted his first head coaching position last summer with The University of Denver men's tennis program.
Berque served 10 seasons (2004-14) as the head men's tennis coach at Michigan and led the Wolverines to the NCAA Championships in his final nine seasons in Ann Arbor. He helped the Illinois men to the 2003 NCAA title during his six-season stint (1999-2004) as an associate head coach for the Fighting Illini.
Chris Camillone, a former ITA doubles All-American at Texas, returns to the Longhorns as a volunteer assistant coach.
MORE ON THE LONGHORNS
Along with the aforementioned Riechmann and Mee, Texas welcomes three additional veterans from the 2015 squad that posted a 21-7 record and finished the season ranked ninth nationally.
George Goldhoff posted a 17-10 singles mark, including an 8-6 record in dual matches last season as a junior. Sophomore Adrian Ortiz went 3-2 in dual-match play last season, and redshirt sophomore William Jou added three singles wins as a freshman. Ortiz is off to a fine start in 2016 with his 4-0 singles mark primarily at No. 3 singles.
UT also welcomes redshirt freshman Julian Zlobinsky and freshmen Rodrigo Banzer, Johnny Goodwin, Colin Markes and Leonardo Telles along with the freshman Scott. Banzer made his collegiate debut last weekend against Florida, and Zlobinsky delivered a win at No. 6 singles against Ole Miss.
Looking ahead, Texas visits Ohio State (Jan. 31) before returning home the following weekend to take on California and Stanford at Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
