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Volume 6, No. 1
It’s a cold and windy December day, and Texas A&M’s Varsity Tennis Center is already in the midst of its spring cleaning. New landscaping covers the outer grounds, and an intimidating 150-seat Stadium Club now gives Shuon Madden that many more fans to play to on Court One.
Indeed, as A&M prepares to host the NCAA Championships in 2002, plans for more improvements to one of the nation’s best tennis facilities continue at a rapid pace. A new press box will hover atop the spine of the Varsity Tennis Center and more bleachers could soon wrap around the entire facility, adding a large chunk of new seats. But for all of the sprucing up going on at the VTC, the real construction and the real building has come inside the locker room. The true architect has been coach Tim Cass, and the main workforce has been a blossoming set of players who comprise the most talented group of athletes on the A&M campus. The Aggies, after all, are coming off their best men’s tennis season ever and now will travel down the legitimate road toward a possible shot at the national championship. Last season, A&M roared to a 24-6 record, winning 17 straight matches en route to the Big 12 Tournament title. At one point, A&M reached a No. 4 national ranking, its highest in the history of the program. With the All-American Madden leading the way at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, the Aggies rolled into the NCAA Tournament, losing to Tennessee in a brutal, 4-3 match in the round of 16. But with every member of the top six in singles returning in 2001, and with the recent addition of world-ranked doubles player Tres Davis, Texas A&M tennis is flat-out loaded this spring. "If we can be in the same position as we were last May, I’d be very happy," said Cass, entering his fifth season as head coach. "If we can go into the NCAA Tournament and have a realistic chance to make a run… With six starters returning and the fact we have some newcomers who should make in impact on our team, you would like to think come May you would be in a position to have a fair chance." A&M was ranked fifth in the first men’s tennis poll of the season, the highest start ever for an Aggie squad. Ahead of the Aggies were last year’s defending champion Stanford at No. 1, followed by second-ranked Tennessee, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Duke. A&M, having beaten longtime nemesis Texas twice last year, was the highest-ranked program in the state of Texas heading into 2001, just ahead of sixth-ranked TCU. And while A&M will play Duke and TCU at the Varsity Tennis Center this spring – along with seventh-ranked Illinois and always-tough LSU – the big question is, can the Aggies hang with the UCLAs and Stanfords of the tennis world when the NCAA Championships convene once again in Athens, Ga., in May? "I don’t think they’re untouchable," Cass said of Stanford, winner of four of the last five men’s national titles. "They certainly look to be very strong in the top three positions. But I think at 4, 5 and 6, they’re very normal. "I think a lot of people would say that our strength is our depth. We have eight players who can play in the top six for us. We have a luxury, but that’s also a problem. It’s an issue because we feel like we have eight guys who can play on a top 10 team. So how do we keep our guys at 7 or 8 happy? We’re certainly talking about certain ways in which we can do that. At the same token, that depth becomes very important at certain times of the year." The depth starts at the top with Madden, voted the Big 12’s Male Athlete of the Year last year by the Dallas Morning News. The senior from Miami captivated A&M tennis fans last year, carving up opponents with the style and precision rarely seen in any sport on the A&M campus. Madden, who was named the 2001 National Player to Watch at last year’s NCAA Championships, reached the round of eight in last year’s singles draw at the NCAAs, finally succumbing to the Georgia heat and a ridiculous schedule that saw him play 11 sets of tennis in just over 24 hours.
If the Aggies are to go further than ever before in the postseason, there’s no doubt Madden again will have to carry the burden of being everyone’s All-American. "I think the pressure certainly is going to be on him," Cass said. "He’s a very accomplished athlete and has been a very accomplished athlete for a long time. He enjoys (the pressure) and welcomes that. He likes the attention, and he likes the pressure. I think most great athletes do. I don’t expect him to shy away from any of that. He is prepared to do what it takes to help his team." Assistant coach Scott Treibly said Madden’s serve has improved over the offseason, to the point where it can become a major weapon for one of the nation’s most compelling college tennis players. "The best college players and pros today have the complete package, and that’s what we’ve tried to give to him," Treibly said. "He’s a great athlete, and he has some great shots. "But I definitely think his serve is a lot faster because he’s using his legs a lot better. The main criteria in making it better is his toss. He’s found a sweet spot where he’s hitting the serve harder than he’s ever hit it." Combine Madden with senior Dumitru Caradima, and a lineup of hard-hitting junior Keith From, senior leader Cody Hubbell, rising star Ryan Newport and doubles specialist Jarin Skube, not to mention the arrival of Davis, and it’s obvious the pieces are there for the Aggies to possibly win the first men’s national title at A&M since the Aggie football team of 1939. "One of our weaknesses last year was our consistency at No. 2 doubles," Cass added. "And that may be one of our strengths. Where doubles was definitely a strong point for us last year, it could even be a greater strength this year. We could pose problems for people. "You look at Stanford, and that’s what they’ve done. They’ll go match up with UCLA, and everyone says Stanford will win the doubles point hands down. That affects the match quite a bit because that’s the momentum part. It takes a while to change that momentum in your favor." Even if the Aggies can’t pull off their first Big 12 regular-season championship or a serious run at the national championship, Cass and company have built a program that now demands respect nationwide. Top recruits are being lured to College Station annually, and the talk of the tennis world is A&M’s ever-increasing home-court advantage at the Varsity Tennis Center. Just four years ago, free admission to matches was the norm, as was crowds bolstered only by parents of the players. Today, A&M leads the country in season ticket sales for tennis, and standing-room only crowds are common. With the addition of the Stadium Club, a three-tiered set of chairback seats courtside that were funded by a $150,000 donation from Phil and Dee Stringer, Cass envisions a true snakepit for visiting teams. "Basically, there weren’t fans," Cass said of the program’s following four or five years ago. "They’ve seen it from the beginning, and I hope they feel a part of the program because they are. I hope they’ve taken an ownership in it. They are involved, and that’s what has made the environment so special right now. They aren’t just coming and waiting for something to happen. They’re making something happen. "(The Stadium Club) really does give a stadium feel. It will keep the noise that much more intense. We can really turn that into an intimidating and fun atmosphere. We have a great facility, but you don’t want to rest on your laurels. So we are actively trying to look forward." You can’t help but look forward when talking A&M men’s tennis. Because it may be a season that winds up making history.
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