By Jerry Ratcliffe
Big East champion St. John’s knew its assignment in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship wasn’t going to be a stroll in the park.
The Johnnies were faced with taking on No. 5-ranked Virginia on its home courts, not an easy task for anyone. If the Red Storm were to pull off the upset, it was going to take something spectacular, if not miraculous.
“Maybe put laxatives in all of Virginia’s players drinks,” laughed St. John’s assistant coach Frank Russo after the Cavaliers eliminated the Storm by a 4-0 score Friday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center. “I mean, look, we knew we were in for a dogfight.”
Virginia improved to 22-4 on the season and advanced to Saturday’s second-round match against No. 17 South Carolina at noon (Snyder courts). Officials moved the match up an hour due to potential inclement weather in the afternoon. The Gamecocks (18-9) eliminated East Tennessee, 4-0, on Friday.
Coaches will readily tell you that the first round of any tournament is always tough for a variety of reasons, but UVA’s Andres Pedroso was impressed with the way his team handled the situation. With difficult conditions (windy and temps in the mid-90s), Pedroso thought his team was ready.
“It wasn’t pretty at times,” Pedroso said. “I thought both teams handled themselves well. Credit to St. John’s for a great season. They fought us hard. I was impressed with them.”
The Johnnies were competing in the tournament for the first time since 2016.
“We’re up on two courts and two first sets at No. 6 and No. 3 [singles], and our No. 1 (Andrei Crapcenco) was battling,” said St. John’s Russo. “It was 5-all and [UVA’s Carl] Söderlund won a big deuce point there to get the break. We were possibly a little overmatched at No. 2 and No. 5 today. Overall, it was a good effort by our kids.”
Söderlund, ranked No. 3 in the nation, won the first set, 7-5, and was up 5-3 when Virginia captured the win, so his match was unfinished. Cavalier freshman Brandon Nakashima, one of the top recruits in UVA tennis history, overpowered Alan Nunez Aguilera, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 2 singles spot, while Ryan Goetz dominated Udayan Bhakar, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 5.
Virginia took the doubles point, so after Nakashima’s and Goetz’s two singles wins, the Cavaliers made short work of the Johnnies when Gianni Ross defeated Dusan Vukicevic, 6-3, 6-3, to clinch the match. It required but two hours for UVA to dispatch the Storm and move on to the second round where it will face South Carolina in yet another sport. The Cavaliers have already defeated the Gamecocks in football (the Belk Bowl) and basketball this season.
“We knew St. John’s hadn’t lost a doubles point in the Big East, so we came to the court with all the respect in the world and we were ready for them,” Pedroso said. “Goetz and Nakashima both played really well, as did Ross. We were really solid in doubles. I was happy with the doubles point.”
In doubles, No. 33-ranked Henrik Wiersholm and Nakashima teamed to defeat Crapcenco and Luka Sucevic, 6-2, in the No. 1 spot. Söderlund and Aswin Lizen, playing No. 3 doubles, downed Vukicevic and Daniel Skripnik, 6-2, to clinch the point.
With a relatively young team, Pedroso continues to rebuild the program, and entering the NCAAs ranked No. 5 nationally is a good start. Returning the Cavaliers to the upper echelon of the country is a big deal for Wahoo tennis buffs.
“It means a lot,” Pedroso said. “I know how much it took for Brian and the whole crew before me to get to that point. I know how much the community and the university loves tennis. We’re trying hard to keep the ship rolling. We do our best and try to do the right thing and work hard and treat these kids like our sons and little brothers.
“I try not to compare myself to Brian anymore,” Pedroso chuckled. “That will get me in trouble if I try to compare to him.”
Pedroso was referencing former UVA coach Brian Boland, who guided the program to four national championships — including three in a row in 2015, 2016, and 2017 — before leaving to head up the USTA’s men’s program. Boland is now head coach at Baylor.
Pedroso was a former assistant to Boland and the two remain close friends.
While his team is young, Pedroso said he hasn’t been surprised with the results, but has been impressed.
“I like the culture these kids have built. They’ve become really close. A lot of them live in the tennis house, just a couple of blocks away,” the coach said. “They spend a lot of time together, they push each other on the practice court, they support each other. They study together.
“I think that is what has helped this team maximize, the fact that they’re so close and they play these matches together,” Pedroso continued. “We’ve stolen four or five matches this year. We’ve been down 3-0, 3-1, and that’s just because these guys are so close and never give up. They look at each other during matches and they just pull each other through. That’s what’s special about this team is that they really don’t give up. They really compete.”
Not a bad rebuilding job, eh?
“Rebuilding and moving to the second round of the tournament … there are a lot of schools in the country that would beg to get to the second round of the NCAAs,” St. John’s Russo said. “I think [Pedroso] is doing a hell of a job.
“You’ve got Söderlund, who is tough as nails and ranked No. 3 in the country right now. He gave us a headache early at the top. Then Henrik (Wiersholm) is tough at No. 3. The young kid (Nakashima) is very tough. He takes the ball very early. He’s a problem. Then all the way down the list, [Pedroso] has upperclassmen at the bottom of the lineup. That’s a team that could make a deep run in the tournament.”
If that is to happen, then Virginia will have to defeat a tough South Carolina team that came into the NCAAs after making it all the way to the SEC tournament semifinals where the Gamecocks dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 6-ranked Mississippi State.
“South Carolina has had a very good year,” Pedroso said. “They’re really well coached. We watched them a little this morning and they fight across the board. We’ll be ready for them. It’s going to be a war.”
Fans can watch the tennis war for free (admission and parking at Culbreth Garage).
The top 16 teams advancing from Saturday’s second round will participate in two-team super regionals (a change in format) on the campuses of the higher-seeded teams (May 10-11). The eight super-regional winners will move on to the finals site, the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., with quarterfinals through the championship matches being contested May 16-19.
