Here's a closer look at graduate student Alexander Thams. The 22-year-old answers some questions comparing Sweden and America:
Regarding food...
"Back home at Sweden I always go to the grocery store every day. Here I have to go once a week and buy everything for the whole week. That's the big difference. I eat better at home. I eat much better. I (also) eat healthier at home. I think there are more healthy choices in Sweden than there are here."
Regarding tennis players...
"Stefan Edberg. He was very athletic. Probably (had) the best volleys in tennis history. And he was a great gentleman. He was named Gentleman of the year, like a hundred times, I don't know. (laughs) A lot of times.
"I'd have to say either (John) McEnroe and Pete Sampras. They were like the opposite. McEnroe was this fired up guy. I really like being fired up and he was quite a character. It was good for tennis. ... Sampras was just one of the greatest players in tennis history. I don't know what to say about him."
Regarding activities...
"I watched a lot of movies in Sweden. ... I can't really do that here. I mean, I can do it, but it's harder. I played a lot of backgammon as well. It's kinda like tennis. It's competitive, it's tactics. (In America), we just hang out. I can't say we do anything special. I mean I did a lot of that back home as well, that's just normal behavior."
Showing posts with label Men's Tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Men's Tennis. Show all posts
Friday, February 22, 2008
Men's Tennis: Michigan Recap
Northwestern lost big in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Friday night in its Big Ten Conference opener against No. 19 Michigan. The Wildcats lost 6-1 to the Wolverines. NU played competitively at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Freshman Pete Rispoli and graduate student Alexander Thams won their doubles match 8-7 (5), but an 8-2 loss at No. 3 and an 8-5 loss at No. 1 resulted in a point for the Wolverines. The Cats struggled at the start of singles play, losing all six of their first sets. After the slow start, NU picked up its play but still couldn't convert. Junior Marc Dwyer was the only player to win his second set. Dwyer ended up as the only Wildcat with a victory, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Men's Tennis: Dartmouth Recap
Northwestern faced off against Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats earned a close 4-3 victory. NU is now 6-4 going into Sunday's match against Arizona State University. The Cats earned the doubles point by winning two of the three matches. NU split the singles matches with Dartmouth. The Big Green struck first, defeating NU senior Juan Gomez at No. 5. Freshman Peter Rispoli was the first Cat to win a match. Tied at 3-3, freshman David Seyferth, the other freshman to play singles, won the last match which earned the victory. Seyferth won, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 6.
Men's Tennis: Full Todd Martin Q&A
Todd Martin Q&A
Martin is Northwestern’s most accomplished men’s tennis player ever. He played at Northwestern for two years before he decided to pursue his professional career in 1990. He has competed in two Grand Slam finals – the 1994 Australian Open and the 1999 U.S. Open – but lost both. Martin’s greatest victories came from his 1994 Queen’s Club championship where he beat Pete Sampras in the final match and the 1995 Davis Cup championship where he was a member of the US team that defeated Russia.
What was one of your most memorable moments playing at Northwestern?
“It’s hard to overlook our 1990 season where we won the Big Ten. It was the first time we won the Big Ten in a long time. Maybe it was the first time a men’s athletic team had won a Big Ten championship of any sort for a while. It was such a joy to celebrate the culmination of a successful season together. Especially for a couple of the guys who had put their four years in and were creeping up on the end of it, to have that sort of is, frankly it was their last experience in competitive tennis. It was tremendous.”
How did you experience at Northwestern help your professional career?
“It provided a period of time for me of growth. Physical growth, emotional growth, intellectual growth and an opportunity to adjust to independence. And all that gets up to the point, it all speaks to what happened other than on the tennis court. On the tennis court, I got stronger, I got better, I got better competition, I had better practice, all of those things. But it would be like sending a, me turning pro at 18 when I finished high school would have been like putting an eight year old in high school.”
So you were only at Northwestern for two years, what was your decision to leave for the pros?
“One of the main reasons I chose Northwestern was I felt like it would be the best balance for me between academics and athletics both in the load of those, but also in the quality of those as well. The load as it turned out, was pretty heavy for me academically and despite splitting my focus between academics and athletics, my athletics grew and grew and my academics didn’t grow and grow. I really felt like it was a two-pronged decision, it was, one, as a competitor I was very confident that I was on the track to being prepared to compete on the world level. And the other prong, was that, regardless, splitting my focus isn’t really accomplishing everything that I wanted to. At the time, I really took the leap of faith that said, I’d give tennis a hundred percent and after two or three years or four years or five years and it doesn’t work, well then I’ll come back and give school a hundred percent and I think it would be, I almost felt like it would be the fair thing to do for either endeavor.”
For your professional career, what was one of your more memorable moments?
“One of the most memorable moments, and it’s easier to focus on that in this setting, was we won the Davis Cup in 1995. It’s a much different team atmosphere in that it’s four or five competitors that are usually at each other’s throats, taking a week off here and there to join together. It was an exciting challenge because you had to figure out how to work with people that you usually wanted to beat and so that was, it’s not the exhilarating ‘We did it, we did it, we did it,’ like college tennis because you guys work for a year or four years towards a goal, but with Davis Cup it was, I think at the end of the year we looked around and realized what we were able to accomplish by stepping away from our individual absorption of selves and did a job together.”
What did you enjoy the most about going to a Grand Slam?
“I would like to say that I was a pure enough competitor that whether I went out on the hard courts down the street where I grew up or Arthur Ashe Stadium at U.S. Open it was the same. So I’d like to think that, I’d like to con people into thinking, every time I walk onto the court it’s the same. But it does get, incrementally more exciting, and I’m not sure if it does for the guys who win those events all the time, it probably does a little bit, but for me it was always still, there was nothing better, I was disappointed when the match was over, whether I won, whether I lost, I wanted to keep playing. In athletics you talk about battles and wars, you lost the battle you won the war, and I loved winning the war, but I still wanted to fight the battles. It was never, a ‘Ah, a relief, it’s done.’ It was always, ‘Let’s play best to seven, I’m up three-one, but let’s play best to seven,’ because I like the way it feels. It was a dream, it was truly a dream come true. I think I had a pretty good appreciation of that when it was happening and now I have a tremendous appreciation of it.”
You were awarded the ATP Sportsmanship Award in 1993 and 1994, what did that mean to you?
“It was important to me. I was brought up to be respectful of the game, respectful of my family, respectful of my peers. And the fact that others thought that I did that well while still competing with my whole heart, that was important to me.”
Growing up as a young tennis player, who did you look up to as someone you wanted to be like?
“I didn’t look at anyone player and say, ‘I want to play like him.’ I would say Stefan Edberg was probably the closest that I had to a role model just from a competitive standpoint. I felt like he always competed hard, but he always competed fairly with a great amount of respect for the privilege that he had to be playing. Game wise, I liked a little bit of Lendl, I liked a little bit of McEnroe, I liked a little bit of Connors and I liked a little bit of Borg. They were all at the peak when I was growing up. In some ways that’s why I had a little bit of, I was a fairly versatile player, and I think that’s one of the reasons why. I didn’t buy into this, ‘I am going to do this and only this.’ I liked, at eight to 12 years old, saying, going out and saying, ‘Oh that’s just how I saw McEnroe do it,’ or I was dreaming, but, or ‘I saw Lendl hit that shot in the quarter finals of the U.S. Open last week.’ I liked that.”
Martin is Northwestern’s most accomplished men’s tennis player ever. He played at Northwestern for two years before he decided to pursue his professional career in 1990. He has competed in two Grand Slam finals – the 1994 Australian Open and the 1999 U.S. Open – but lost both. Martin’s greatest victories came from his 1994 Queen’s Club championship where he beat Pete Sampras in the final match and the 1995 Davis Cup championship where he was a member of the US team that defeated Russia.
What was one of your most memorable moments playing at Northwestern?
“It’s hard to overlook our 1990 season where we won the Big Ten. It was the first time we won the Big Ten in a long time. Maybe it was the first time a men’s athletic team had won a Big Ten championship of any sort for a while. It was such a joy to celebrate the culmination of a successful season together. Especially for a couple of the guys who had put their four years in and were creeping up on the end of it, to have that sort of is, frankly it was their last experience in competitive tennis. It was tremendous.”
How did you experience at Northwestern help your professional career?
“It provided a period of time for me of growth. Physical growth, emotional growth, intellectual growth and an opportunity to adjust to independence. And all that gets up to the point, it all speaks to what happened other than on the tennis court. On the tennis court, I got stronger, I got better, I got better competition, I had better practice, all of those things. But it would be like sending a, me turning pro at 18 when I finished high school would have been like putting an eight year old in high school.”
So you were only at Northwestern for two years, what was your decision to leave for the pros?
“One of the main reasons I chose Northwestern was I felt like it would be the best balance for me between academics and athletics both in the load of those, but also in the quality of those as well. The load as it turned out, was pretty heavy for me academically and despite splitting my focus between academics and athletics, my athletics grew and grew and my academics didn’t grow and grow. I really felt like it was a two-pronged decision, it was, one, as a competitor I was very confident that I was on the track to being prepared to compete on the world level. And the other prong, was that, regardless, splitting my focus isn’t really accomplishing everything that I wanted to. At the time, I really took the leap of faith that said, I’d give tennis a hundred percent and after two or three years or four years or five years and it doesn’t work, well then I’ll come back and give school a hundred percent and I think it would be, I almost felt like it would be the fair thing to do for either endeavor.”
For your professional career, what was one of your more memorable moments?
“One of the most memorable moments, and it’s easier to focus on that in this setting, was we won the Davis Cup in 1995. It’s a much different team atmosphere in that it’s four or five competitors that are usually at each other’s throats, taking a week off here and there to join together. It was an exciting challenge because you had to figure out how to work with people that you usually wanted to beat and so that was, it’s not the exhilarating ‘We did it, we did it, we did it,’ like college tennis because you guys work for a year or four years towards a goal, but with Davis Cup it was, I think at the end of the year we looked around and realized what we were able to accomplish by stepping away from our individual absorption of selves and did a job together.”
What did you enjoy the most about going to a Grand Slam?
“I would like to say that I was a pure enough competitor that whether I went out on the hard courts down the street where I grew up or Arthur Ashe Stadium at U.S. Open it was the same. So I’d like to think that, I’d like to con people into thinking, every time I walk onto the court it’s the same. But it does get, incrementally more exciting, and I’m not sure if it does for the guys who win those events all the time, it probably does a little bit, but for me it was always still, there was nothing better, I was disappointed when the match was over, whether I won, whether I lost, I wanted to keep playing. In athletics you talk about battles and wars, you lost the battle you won the war, and I loved winning the war, but I still wanted to fight the battles. It was never, a ‘Ah, a relief, it’s done.’ It was always, ‘Let’s play best to seven, I’m up three-one, but let’s play best to seven,’ because I like the way it feels. It was a dream, it was truly a dream come true. I think I had a pretty good appreciation of that when it was happening and now I have a tremendous appreciation of it.”
You were awarded the ATP Sportsmanship Award in 1993 and 1994, what did that mean to you?
“It was important to me. I was brought up to be respectful of the game, respectful of my family, respectful of my peers. And the fact that others thought that I did that well while still competing with my whole heart, that was important to me.”
Growing up as a young tennis player, who did you look up to as someone you wanted to be like?
“I didn’t look at anyone player and say, ‘I want to play like him.’ I would say Stefan Edberg was probably the closest that I had to a role model just from a competitive standpoint. I felt like he always competed hard, but he always competed fairly with a great amount of respect for the privilege that he had to be playing. Game wise, I liked a little bit of Lendl, I liked a little bit of McEnroe, I liked a little bit of Connors and I liked a little bit of Borg. They were all at the peak when I was growing up. In some ways that’s why I had a little bit of, I was a fairly versatile player, and I think that’s one of the reasons why. I didn’t buy into this, ‘I am going to do this and only this.’ I liked, at eight to 12 years old, saying, going out and saying, ‘Oh that’s just how I saw McEnroe do it,’ or I was dreaming, but, or ‘I saw Lendl hit that shot in the quarter finals of the U.S. Open last week.’ I liked that.”
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Men's Tennis: VCU Recap
Northwestern dropped the first of two games this weekend against Virginia Commonwealth University. The Wildcats fell to 5-3 in the 4-1 loss against the Rams. NU lost a close doubles point where two of the matches were decided by a two game margin. For singles, sophomore captain Alex Sanborn was the only one to earn a point for the Cats. Sanborn won his match 6-2, 6-7 (5), 10-4 at No. 3. Marc Dwyer, Alexander Thams and Pete Rispoli all lost their matches at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, which led to NU's loss. The No. 5 and No. 6 matches were not finished when VCU earned its fourth point.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Men's Tennis: Bradley Recap
After a tough 7-0 loss on Thursday, Northwestern came back and beat Bradley by the same score Saturday morning at the Combe Tennis Center. The Wildcats claimed the doubles point quickly with a pair of 8-2 victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Junior Marc Dwyer and sophomore captain Alex Sanborn played at No. 1 and senior Juan Gomez and freshman David Seyferth played at No. 3. NU was just as commanding in the singles round. Graduate student Alexander Thams earned the first singles point by winning his match 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Sanborn followed with a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 3. And Seyferth clinched the Cats’ victory with a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 6.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Men's Tennis: January Review
So we’re about halfway through the non-conference schedule before the Wildcats kick off Big Ten play with
Marc Dwyer:
- Junior Dwyer is playing well at both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in singles. He has a record of 4-2 in singles going 2-1 at both spots.
- Notable Win: Dwyer broke
- Notable Loss: Dwyer lost to Notre Dame’s Brett Helgeson, who’s ranked 11th in the nation, in the No. 1 spot 6-3, 6-2.
Alexander Thams:
- Graduate student Thams started the season struggling a bit at No. 1 singles, but has been playing more and more steadily at the No. 2 spot. Thams’ singles record is 2-3.
- Notable Win: Thams defeated
- Notable Loss: Thams fell short in a tight match against Notre Dame’s Sheeva Parbhu 6-4, 7-6 (8) at No. 2.
Alex Sanborn:
- Sophomore captain Sanborn has the best record of all the Wildcats at 5-1. He has played consistently at both the No. 3 and No. 4 singles spot.
- Notable Win: Sanborn blanked
- Notable Loss: Sanborn’s only loss was a tight one that came against his
Pete Rispoli:
- Freshman Rispoli has shared time at both the No. 3 and No. 4 spot. Rispoli had some trouble at No. 3, but has shown more consistency at No. 4. Rispoli’s overall dual singles record is 2-3.
- Notable Win: Rispoli came back from his first set loss to win his match against
- Notable Loss: Rispoli played in a close match against
Juan Gomez:
- Senior Gomez has been very solid at No. 5 singles the entire season with a 4-2 record.
- Notable Win: Gomez earned a point for the Cats in the shortened 4-0 victory over
- Notable Loss: Gomez lost in a close match against Notre Dame’s David Anderson that clinched the Fighting Irish’s victory. Gomez was defeated 7-5, 6-4 at No. 5.
David Seyferth:
- Freshman Seyferth has turned in solid play so far in dual play with a 2-2 record at No. 6.
- Notable Win: The freshman earned his first victory in a three-set match against
- Notable Loss: Seyferth lost in a close match against
Other Players:
- Junior Philip Kafka won the only match he played in against
- Freshman Andrew McCarthy has not participated in dual play and is sitting out due to injury.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Men's Tennis: Butler Dual Recap
Northwestern beat
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Men's Tennis: TENNIS 110: Introduction to Tennis Vocabulary
To get in the mood for the midterm season that’s coming up soon (especially for you math/science guys), I’ve compiled a list of some basic tennis vocabulary for you guys. Study hard!
Ace – A serve the opponent does not touch because it is hit too well.
Example: Jaime Lee Curtis’ ace flew right past Kevin Kline.
Blank/Bagel – To beat someone without having them score on you. In a set, the opponent would have lost all of the games, and in a match, the opponent would have lost all of the sets.
Example: Ned Flanders blanked/bageled Homer Simpson in the singles match, 6-0.
Break – To beat somebody when they are serving. This term is often used in the phrase “break point” where the person has an opportunity to win a game while their opponent is serving.
Example: Up 15-40, Voltaire has a chance to break David Ricardo.
Love – The term used for zero in a score.
Example: Lance Bass is currently winning this game 30-love.
Shank – To hit a ball on the rim of your racquet. This action usually influences your shot negatively. This term can also be used as a noun, which would be a shot that was hit off of the rim of the racquet.
Example: Mario’s shank cost him the game against his brother Luigi.
Or
Example: Kenny G. lost the match because he shanked half of his shots.
Unforced Error – A mistake that is made because of your own mistake. These are mistakes that are off of returnable shots by your opponent.
Example: All of Edward R. Murrow’s unforced errors came from shots that hit the net.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Men's Tennis: Australian Open Picks
The Australian Open runs from January 14-27. After talking to the freshmen about their college tennis careers, let’s see who they think will come out on top in
Andrew McCarthy’s picks
“If injuries don’t get in the way, I always like to see Nadal do well because I can relate with him. … I know he works his tail off to meet his goals and I really look up to someone like that. I really like his style. He’s overall a really good player.”
“He’s like a Todd Martin. He’s a tall player. He’s got a heavy forehand. He works hard and has a great mind.”
Peter Rispoli’s picks:
Winner: Roger Federer
“I like his attitude. (He’s) very professional.”
Dark horse: Pablo Cuevas
“He’s a young (up-and-comer) and he’s got one of the greatest backhands I’ve ever seen.”
David Seyferth’s picks:
Winner: Fernando Gonzalez
“He has the flashiest game on tour and he’s the most fun to watch. I think one of these times he’s going to break through.”
Dark horse: Sam Querrey
“He’s young, he’s energetic and he’s fun to watch. I’ve been in the same tournaments as him so it’s fun to see him play at that level.”
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