By Eustace Browne
Contributing Writer
The men’s and women’s tennis teams wrapped up the fall portion of their season. The fall schedule featured just one home tournament for the Bonnies.
Head Coach Michael Bates said the team is historically accustomed to being on the road during the fall season.
“We’re used to it,” Bates said. “We typically do a lot of traveling in the fall.”
Bates said the fall season is being used for more of a mental evaluation season, rather than for overall team success. However, he thinks the season went well overall.
“We got a lot of matches in and got to play competition we don’t usually get to play,” Bates said.
In terms of competition, Bates said, despite lack of results, the men played Yale well and had a good showing against Boston College at the Army Invite.
Bates pointed out the women’s success at the Navy Invite on Sept. 20-22, specifically praising Junior Fatya Amiri and freshman Mara Martinez-Santori, who made the semi-finals in the tournament.
In addition, Bates finds that said Amiri and Martinez-Santori as well as junior Marisa Brossard stood out for the women. For the men, Bates tabbed seniors Javier Ortiz, Elliot Fanshel and sophomore Eduardo Irizarry as standouts.
“There was no one in particular who did great or was fantastic, but those guys stood out the most,” Bates said.
Bates emphasized the most important thing he wants his players to work on for the spring season is conditioning.
“It’s a long spring, and I want my players to come in to the season ready to go as opposed to having to work our way into it,” Bates said.
In addition to conditioning, Bates wants his players to work on their doubles while practicing and getting in as many games as they can during the winter break.
“We didn’t do particularly well in doubles,” Bates said. “I think if we work on that, then that’ll help us out in the spring.”
Finally Bates said that possibly the most important thing his players can do is simply spend as much time on the courts as they possibly can.
“This is our break time and we have to make sure we’re out there playing sets and playing matches and getting in as many games as we can,” Bates said. “They have to get some work in on their own. That’s the expectation,” Bates said.
He said the fall season was good because it gave freshmen the ability to play college-level tennis.
“They got to get in there and win some matches and be competitive, and for others it will help them mentally prepare for how tough it will be in the spring,” Bates said.
