2016 Season Preview: Men's Tennis
1/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 4, 2016
The 2015-16 Michigan men's tennis team
• Free Admission
• Social Media: Twitter (@umichtennis) | Facebook
2016 OUTLOOK
The Wolverines welcome four newcomers -- three freshmen and a junior -- to this year's team, which brings back Nos. 3-6 in singles from a year ago. The Maize and Blue strung together an impressive fall season, compiling a 41-22 singles mark and an 11-9 doubles record with eight different combinations.
Junior/sophomore Davis Crocker highlighted the fall results, winning the Big Ten Singles Championship in Iowa City to finish the fall with a 10-3 record. Sophomore Carter Lin made a run to the semifinals of the Lakewood Ranch tournament and the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Lin and junior Kevin Wong each won eight matches this fall as five Wolverines totaled at least four singles wins.
Sophomore Runhao Hua is back for his sophomore season after seeing time last season at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in a 17-11 freshman season. Junior/sophomore Alex Knight was 8-7 at No. 4 last year en route to winning nine matches during dual-match play.
Michigan is looking to build on the end to last season as U-M won four of its last seven matches. The Wolverines will look to new players at the top of the lineup as not one current Wolverine has played at No. 1. With all but two players returning from last season, Michigan has experience in the middle and bottom of the lineup.
Head coach Adam Steinberg, who emphasizes "team" in everything the Wolverines do, enters his second year at the helm. Steinberg stresses the importance of being vocal on the court, playing with energy and staying engaged with teammates when his Wolverines are on the court.
Steinberg will look to his leadership council of Crocker, junior Jathan Malik, junior Tyler Gardiner and Knight to provide leadership for a team that does not feature a senior.
The NCAA has adapted new rules this year for tennis, which will be in effect all year long. Doubles action will begin immediately with no warm-up, so fans are encouraged to arrive on time for matches. In addition, each doubles match will be one set to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. The team that wins two-of-three matches will secure the doubles point. Following a five-minute intermission, singles action will begin with each match worth one point towards the team score. All singles matches will be played to completion. There will be no-ad scoring in both singles and doubles action.
STUDENT-ATHLETES TO WATCH
Davis Crocker -- Junior/sophomore Davis Crocker won the Big Ten singles tournament this fall, going 6-0 in the event en route to the title. Crocker led Michigan in singles wins this fall (10) and is one of four Wolverines that head coach Adam Steinberg is leaning on for leadership this season. Crocker was recognized as Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree last year and is looking to give Michigan depth in the middle of the lineup after going 10-16 in 2014-15.
Carter Lin -- Sophomore Carter Lin is coming off a successful fall campaign that saw him make a run to the semifinals of the Lakewood Ranch Invitational and the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Lin could see time at the top of the lineup this season after playing at No. 5 and No. 6 last season, winning six matches during dual matches.
Runhao Hua -- Sophomore Runhao Hua led the Maize and Blue with 17 total wins last year, seeing time at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 during dual matches. Hua has the most experience of all to the returning Wolverines at the top of the lineup. He and Alex Knight look to anchor Michigan's double lineup at the top spot after going 8-5 in dual matches a season ago.
Left: Carter Lin // Middle: Davis Crocker // Right: Runhao Hua
KEY COMPETITION
Friday, Feb. 19 -- vs. Michigan State (Varsity Tennis Center)
Michigan will host Michigan State at the VTC in its Big Ten opener. The Wolverines have won 12 in a row against the Spartans after taking a 4-3 decision last season in East Lansing.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Adam Steinberg
On the way he wants his team to play ... "The best moment I have had in coaching here at Michigan was this fall when at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, all four doubles teams were on the court at the same time, and it was awesome. They were pushing each other and playing with amazing energy. It was like a dual match out there. They created such a great atmosphere, even in an individual event. They saw how well they were playing from it. That was a really good thing, and that is what we do in practice every day. They are starting to take that into matches, and that makes me happy.
"We do it a little differently here. We play for each other, which is not always the case in tennis. But it has to be every second of every day, no matter where we are. We aren't quite there yet, but it is definitely getting much better."
2015 RECAP
Michigan went 7-19 in Steinberg's first season at the helm, winning four of its final seven matches of the season to enter this season with a little bit of momentum. The Wolverines were solid at the bottom of the lineup, winning 25 points on the season at Nos. 4-6. Michigan lost two seniors from last year's team in Michael Zhu and Alex Petrone, who split time at No. 1 and No. 2. U-M used 16 different doubles combinations on the year while trying to implement Steinberg's vocal and energetic style of play.
Players Mentioned
