Day 3: THE SLUGS

The reason I got into coaching was because of Bob Hansen, the former men's tennis coach at UC Santa Cruz. He was my mentor and 2nd father. Bob was and is the best coach in Division III tennis, if not, all of college tennis. Bob, had many chances to go Division I, but chose to stay at Santa Cruz because of his family. Bob was the best teacher of fundamentals I have ever come in contact with, and way ahead of his time in regards to teaching technique. Bob is the John Wooden of college coaching and he left Santa Cruz because of personal reasons. It's still hard for me to imagine that he's at Middlebury, but, I know that Middlebury is extremely lucky to have him. Bob built a dynasty at Santa Cruz, and his replacement, Bryce Parmelly, is in the unenviable position of replacing him. I give Bryce a lot of credit, considering it's a horrible position to be in. Bryce is definitely the right man for the job and I know that he will do a great job.

It's amazing how perceptions change in a span of 24 hours. After the Kenyon match, our confidence was restored, and our team was looking forward to playing the slugs. We hadn't beaten them in over 5 years so this was a big match. We came out ready to play in doubles. Kahler and Wagner set the tone, jumping on the 2 team from Santa Cruz. At 1, we were on serve, but looked much better after a 2 match warmup. 3 doubles got down an early break, but battled to break back and eventually secure us a win. Going into singles we had managed to open up a 3-0 lead and had broken the spirit of the slugs. Once again, energy was a key to our success in doubles. Our boys would not be denied during doubles and basically overwhelmed them. Kahler and Wagner went 3-0 over the tourney and established themselves as a team to watch over the season. Pottish and Goodwin finally found their stride and showed why they are the 2 best players in the country. Humphreys leadership and Kowalski's fire, was equally impressive as the finished the tourney 2-1. 

Even up 3-0, you can never relax, especially in the format we were playing. Momentum change in the blink of an eye. Pottish, at 1, was playing a very good player, who played 3 at UC Santa Barbara, last season. I watched him in doubles and initially thought that Pottish would be able to man handle him, but, you can never ever judge a book by the cover. He was very good and pressed Pottish for the entire match. Pottish is one of the best competitors I have ever seen in D-III, so despite the fact that he was not playing his best tennis, his ability to focus and compete helped him overcome the challenge from the feisty slug. Wagner at 3, was playing a very cagey player, unorthodox, and got down an early break in the first set, but he managed to right the ship, and helped us get our 4 point. After the Gustavus match, Wagner settled down, and played his best tennis in the finals. Pottish clinched the match and we were now up 5-0. 

One of the hardest things to do in college tennis is to keep your focus and intensity when you are forced to play even when the match has been decided. Kowalski, at 2, had to play a 10 point breaker for the 3rd, against a player, who was able to compete in the individuals last year. Kowalski, lost, but proved that he can be a contributor in this lineup. Halpern at 4, was once again too much for his opponent, and finished the weekend 3-0.  Lavoie-Perusse, at 5, played a guy who was swinging for the fences, and ended up losing in 10 point breaker. After a sloppy first set, he played much better. Ruderman, at 6, once again, got out of the gates slowly, but he is a very good competitor, and was able to secure our 7th point.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank Chris Redmond and Alex Chun, our assistant coaches. They did an amazing job, and what you need to remember, is that they are working for basically free. Most D-III teams do not have an assistant coach let alone 2. These guys come everyday, trying to help our team get better. Chris and Alex, have made Emory tennis a central part of their lives, and we are truly blessed to have them with us. Also, we have Peter Marcinkowski, a senior, who has taken the role of student-assistant. I have been amazed at how committed he has been to helping our players. He is truly one of the best people I know in life, unselfish, and a person you want to have in your life. I also want to thank Nick. He did not play over the weekend, but travelled with us, and was an amazing supporter during our run. It's not easy to watch from the sidelines, but he put the team ahead of his own personal interest, a mark of someone who was raised the right way.

Lastly, winning indoors is awesome, but it's only the 1st act of a long season. We have along way to go as a team, but hopefully, we will stay motivated, and realize, that you don't win NCAA titles in February. Physical and mental preparation is the key and we need to keep the hammer down!

DAY 2: KENYON

Kenyon is coach by Scott Thiele. Scott has done an amazing job at Kenyon considering it's not the easiest of places to recruit. Scott's team always compete hard and are usually ranked among the top 8 teams in the country.

The night before the semi-final match against Kenyon, I was definitely a little concerned after our performance against Gustavus. I have had veteran teams that have played poorly in the early rounds of a tournament, but I knew, from past performances what they were capable of achieving. We had 5 new starters in the lineup for the match against Gustavus, so no one, including coaches and veterans, really knew what to expect. My hope and belief was that we would get stronger as the tournament progressed, but I was still concerned about our upcoming match against a feisty Kenyon team.

Once again, we started our slowly at 1 and 3 doubles, going down early breaks at each position. At one point Pottish and Goodwin were down 7-4, while 3 doubles was struggling to hold and still down a break. The only positive we had was the performance at 2 doubles. Kahler and Wagner continued their high level of play from the night before and seemed to be in control of the match.

At one point, it looked like we were going to be down 2-1 again after doubles. But, then the tide turned, and we got a little momentum. The energy across the 3 courts really is the reason why we got going, instead of panicking, our guys dug in, and started battling. Goodwin and Pottish stormed back and won. It was a remarkable win considering the circumstances, but I really shouldn't be surprised, considering what they accomplished in their tenure at Emory. Kahler and Wagner secured us the 2nd point and we were rolling. It's amazing how the tenor of a match change so quickly, at one point, it looked we were going down 2-1, and now, we were up 2-0. One match left, and I was feeling very confident, considering we were up 7-6, 40-15. The worst thing you can ever do as a coach, is assume a match is over when you have a match point. It's bad karma. Humphrey's and Kowalski, got broken, and instead of going up 3-0, we were now faced with the prospect of a comeback from Kenyon. Senior captain, Will Humphreys, is a great competitor, especially under pressure. Most teams, after squandering match points, would crumble, but Will kept freshman Kowalski focused, and they ended up winning in a tiebreaker. It was an absolutely huge lift for the team and it gave us the momentum we needed.

We started singles with a commanding 3-0 lead, and more importantly, we had the momentum at our backs. We sent out our top 3 singles matches and continued to apply the pressure. Pott was matched up with a very tough player, but his experience and talent was too much for Kenyon. Kowalski, at 2, was playing Kenyon's top freshman recruit, and grinded out a 3 set win. Wagner, at 3, was much more comfortable, and showcased his talent that he had displayed in practice, and against AUM. We now were up 6-0.  Halpern was dominant at 4. Eric is one of our best spots in the lineup. Lavoie-Perusse,  lost at 5, in 3rd set breaker. Ruderman, at 6, got a slow start, but he buckled down, and showed everyone why he is a major threat in our lineup.

It's amazing how your impressions of team change in 24 hours. We were much more relaxed and confident against Kenyon, and more importantly, we walked out of Swanson center feeling good about the win.

2012 ITA INDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

The boys captured their 2nd straight ITA National Indoor championship beating the slugs 7-2 in the finals. The ITA indoor tourney is 3 day intense grind played out on only 3 courts. Each matches average close to 6 hours with dramatic highs and lows along the way. I was extremely proud of our team's ability to stay focused and intense throughout this marathon. For the 4 freshman starters, it was baptism by fire, pressure they have never felt, but thankfully, they rose to the challenge, and can now use this valuable experience for the rest of the season.

The national indoor tournament is also when our team actually becomes a team. Everyone knows the fall is much more individual with the new guys getting their feet wet and slowly getting use to their new surroundings. Our senior's did a wonderful job of bringing everyone together and it showed with the unity we all felt during our matches. It was amazing to watch how much they supported each other. It was the key to our success.

Day 1: Gustavus Adolphus

One of the hardest things to do at the indoor championships is to play Gustavus on their home courts with 4 freshman in the lineup. Match time was set for 5pm. I told the guys the night before that the courts would be extremely loud with their fans sitting basically on the courts. At 4:45pm, the stands were empty, Pottish, walked up to me jokingly, and asked me where all the fans were hiding. Sure enough, by the end of intro's, the stands were filling up. It was an awesome atmosphere, very loud and raucous, the kind of atmosphere I wished we could experience more often. 

This was also the debut of Chris Goodwin who had been sitting due to injury. We decided to team up our 2 best players who had played with each other a couple of years ago and leave 2 and 3 the same. Gustavus with the help of their crowd got out of the gates early with a couple of early breaks at 1 and 3. Goodwin and Pottish faced an uphill battle seeing how it was Chris's first match back and also because they hadn't played together in 2 years. Elliot Kahler and Ian Wagner took the crowd out their match by jumping on the 2 team from Gustavus early. They are becoming a very explosive team and fun to watch. Elliot's a junior transfer, so his leadership on court has really helped the talented freshman, Ian Wagner. Humphrey's and Kowalski played a red-hot team at 3 and lost in a tiebreaker. So, after doubles, we found ourselves down 2-1.

Being down 2-1 against the home team, with the crowd hoping for a massive upset, on 3 courts, is not the greatest position to be in. Fortunately, our guys didn't panic. Pottish, Halpren, and Kowalski, were the first 3 matches to take the court. Our goal, going into singles, was to re-establish the momentum, and take the crowd out of the match. Halpern got a slow start, but his game was way too much for the #4 at Gustavus, and got us even with Gustavus. Kowalski played a guy with a big serve and ground game. Kowalski seems to be our resident pit bull. He's feisty and likes to compete with the lights on him. Kowalski was able to give us our first lead. Up 3-2, with Pottish up a set, I was starting to feel a little easier, bad decision on my part. Pott had a tough match with a very good serve and volleyer. Pott won the first, but up losing the second set. The greatest thing about Pottish, is his ability to make adjustments in a match without panicking. Pott's, adjusted his game by taking the return earlier, and then, took control of the match securing us a 4-2 lead. Next up to bat was Wagner at 3 and Simon at 5. In my head, at this point, I really thought Gustavus was going to lay down, but they have a lot heart and stayed with it. Gustavus's 3 and 5 players ended up winning the first sets, and once again, got the momentum back on their side. Fortunately, our guys battled back and won the 2nd sets, but the third sets would not be pretty. Wagner ended up losing in 3, but Simon was up 5-2 in the 3rd, playing great tennis. Unfortunately, his opponent did not pack it in, and with the aid of the crowd, he battled back to get the match back on serve. Simon, saved his best tennis for the 5-4 game and broke him to secure the win. Alex Ruderman, finally, after 5 hours was able to take the court at 6. The 5 and 6 guys playing with this 3-court format, is by far the hardest position to be in. They have to endure the highs and lows while trying to be ready to compete after sitting for 5 hours. Ruderman did a nice job of being patient even after losing the first set, and elevated his game to secure the win.

After the match, we were all relieved, but also, frustrated. One of the hardest things about playing for Emory, is sometimes when you win, you feel like you have lost. The mood was definitely not joyous after playing tentative for most of the match and not showcasing our talent like we had against AUM. But, we all know, that playing against D-III teams in this kind of pressure-filled environment is a different deal. We don't always face guys that are slicing every shot, and even hitting slice forehand passing shots, not to mention the home crowd surging for an upset. In hindsight, it was a perfect 1st round match especially for the younger guys, they got a chance to get a glimpse of what May will feel like. The experience is priceless, and ultimately, we didn't panic, but kept our focus, even if it wasn't pretty.

Day 2 will come later. (Kahler was not on hand to edit, so I am sorry if there's any grammatical errors)

Grammatical errors

Due to my incessant problems with being able to construct coherent sentences, junior Elliot Kahler, an english and poetry major, has offered to be my editor.

Thanks Elliot.

2012 ITA INDOOR NATIONALS

We are heading off tommorow to Mankato, Minnesota, for the ITA Indoor National Championship. Thanks to Coach Jeff Northman, men's tennis coach for Whitman College, for creating this event over 12 years ago. The first ITA championship was held at Walla Walla, Washington, at Whitman college. Division III tennis owes Coach Northman a debt of gratitude for starting this wonderful event. The ITA indoors is the closet feel to the NCAA's we have. Jeff was unable to continue the event, and thankfully, Coach Steve Wilkerson, Gustavus Adophus (DIII legendary coach), was able to keep it going. Last year, Coach Todd Helbling, from Mary Washington, took it over(after Coach Wilkerson retired), and did an excellent job of hosting the event. The event requires a great deal of planning and financial commitment, so there is not a lot of schools who can host this event. Whitman, Gustavus, and Mary Washington, have been very gracious to take it on.

Coach Tommy Valentine(2nd year coach) at Gustavus Adophus, was kind of enough to host the event, considering the event was almost  scratched for 2012. Tommy was a member of the Gustavus team we played in the NCAA semi's 10 years ago at Santa Cruz. Tommy has done a wonderful job filling in for the legendary Steve Wilkerson.

I was always look forward to this event because it's a great experience for our players, especially the freshman. Make sure to follow the results on our website, there should be live scoring. I will also try to post after the matches. 

EAGLES TAKE DOWN GPC 8-1

Once again, we were able to get a quick start in doubles winning at 2 and 3. Elliott Kahler and Ian Wagner are starting to become a very strong team at number 2. They both have very big serves and are always making the serve team work with a high % of returns in play. Will Humphreys and Brian Kowalski were solid at 3 doubles and staked us to a 2-1 advantage.

Pottish once again was dominant at 1 singles. It's amazing how much pressure he takes off the rest of the lineup with his consistent performances at the toughest position in the lineup. It was nice to see Kowalski at 2, and Halpern at 4, secure their first wins in singles. Kowalski played a dominant first set and was able to hold off a late GPC surge in the 2nd set. Halpern had a tough 3 set match, and didn't play his best tennis, but he showed a lot heart in the 3rd set, and raised his level to secure a victory. It was nice to see him fight through a not so perfect day.Ian Wagner, Simon Lavoie-Perusse, and Alex Ruderman continue to be solid and dominant at their positions.

The ITA Indoor National Championship will begin a week from today. Fortunately, we have another week of preparation which will help us be ready for the challenge. The ITA Indoors is always one of the highlights of the year and extremely important for the younger players, so they get a feel for the intensity they are going to face in May.

Georgia Perimeter Match PREVIEW

When I first got to Emory, GPC, was a junior college powerhouse. GPC's top players would head off to big-time D-1 schools. Coach Billy Pate was the sole reason they were so successful. Billy had a knack for attracting top international players who were not ready academically to enter 4 year institutions. Billy has since moved on, and he is currently the head coach for the men's tennis team at Alabama.

When Billy left, the program fell apart. I am not sure if they lost scholarships, but the talent stopped coming. Last year, GPC, got a new coach, Mohamed Omar. He has definitely picked up where Billy left off. I saw last year when we played them that he was turning the program around. They had a few good players, but more importantly, they were acting like a team that wanted to win. I had an inkling at that time that he was going to rebuild the program.

They have started strong this season with all-international lineup. Omar's teams compete hard so we are definitely in for a fight. Once again, doubles will be key. We need a fast start in doubles, hopefully, we can come out with the energy and fire we had against AUM. It should be a fun match, and it's nice to see GPC is returning to their dominant past.

MARK ODGERS

Mark Odgers was a former 8 time NCAA All-American, and one of the few players, if had chosen, could have played at the next level. Mark had it all, a huge all-court game and mental toughness that could have been very successful at the pro level. I will never forget Mark's freshman year, when in the semi-final match, against Gustavus Adolphus stud, Eric Butorac, his 3rd set tiebreaker win, was the one of the best displays of tennis under pressure I have ever seen. His win and Alex Jacobs, studly win at the 4 spot, catapulted a very young team to the NCAA finals. Eric Butorac, is currently a top 30 doubles player in the world, and there is no doubt in my mind, that Mark could be right there with Eric among the top doubles players in the world.

Fortunately, for Emory tennis, Mark sacrificed his personal ambitions, to help our program. Mark was my assistant coach for 5 years, and during this time, my admiration of him grew. Mark worked tirelessly to help our team reach the next level. Words cannot express my gratitude for all his many contributions. Players adored Mark, and he really helped Chris Redmond, become the assistant coach he is today. 

Mark is currently married, to his wonderful wife, Molly, and they currently, reside in Dallas, Texas. Mark is continuing to play at a high level. Recently, he narrowly lost in doubles challenger finals, which would have catapulted him in the main draw, and given him precious ATP points. Mark embodied all that is good with Emory athletics. 

Thanks for all of your contributions, I will never be able to repay you!!!

THE ARCHITECT OF EMORY TENNIS AND HALL FAME MEMBER, COACH SCHROER

I have had the pleasure of knowing Coach Schroer for many years, and over that time, he has become a mentor and a dear friend. Coach Schroer is one of the most well-respected people at Emory and Division III men's tennis. Anyone who has ever played for Emory tennis owes Coach Schroer a huge debt of gratitude. The success we have enjoyed is directly attributed to his work over his 31 plus years of coaching at Emory.

Interview with Coach Schroer: by freshman Alex Ruderman.

1)       I came to Emory in the Fall of 1967 as Men’s Tennis Coach and Instructor in Physical Education.  I was tennis coach from 1967 through 1999.  I have continued teaching in the physical education department since retiring as the Men’s tennis coach.

2)      There have been many memorable players and teams but 1996 stands out as one of the most memorable.  We hosted nationals in 1996 and  had a better than average team.  The outstanding part about that team was that they continued to improve throughout the season and overachieved constantly.  We lost badly to Kalamazoo in the regular season (7-0).  Then at nationals we beat Redlands in the first round (4-2) and played K-zoo in the second round.  They were the obvious favorite but we won 4-3.  Santa Cruz beat us in the finals 4-2 and repeated as national champions for their second in a row.

3)      Memorable players are too numerous to mention.  It is nice to have the first Emory All-American come from the Men’s tennis program.  That was Steve Gittleson.  The Men’s tennis team also had the first NCAA scholar athlete.  That was Roy Martino.  The NCAA awarded three post-graduate awards to men’s tennis in 1972.  Danny Birchmore from the University of Ga. tennis team received one, Roy received one and I can’t remember who received the other.  There were only three awards for all of collegiate tennis and that made it very special.  Todd Kennedy was a four time All-American and NCAA III Rookie of the year.  Gavin O’Connell, a three time NCAA III All-American,

        continued playing competitively ff graduation and played some matches for the Atlanta Thunder in World Team Tennis.

4)      First of all, I was not the first Men’s tennis coach.  I followed Crawford Henry and I don’t know who preceded him.  Crawford was a world class player who graduated from Tulane and played with some of the nationally and world ranked players of that era.  I would like to think the players of my tenure worked hard, played with heart and many were over-achievers.

5)      We had several rivals.  Nationally, Kalamazoo was our biggest.  We played them every year on their Spring trip to Florida and, unfortunately, I can count on one hand the number of times we beat them.  Gustavus Adolphus, Claremont Mudd, Redlands and Swarthmore were perennial dogfights.  Santa Cruz a powerhouse but we rarely saw them during the regular season.   Regionally, Trinity was our biggest rival.  Our relationships were cordial and respectful.  With few exceptions, the coaches kept rivalries in a proper perspective.

6)      I follow the Men’s and Women’s programs but rarely sit through a complete match.

7)      The Men’s program has accelerated to new levels since Coach Browning took over in 2000.  Any advice I could give would be to put your games in his hands, work hard and take nothing for granted.

8)      For a team to be successful, the veterans need to be work ethic leaders and mentors.  That’s generally been the mo for the past and I believe the present.

THE DROUGHT IS OVER!

It's taken 13 years, but we finally beat AUM, 7-2. Doubles was the key, we got off to a fast start going up 3-0. It started with Senior Captain, Will Humphreys, and freshman Brian Kowalski, jumping on AUM with a dominant performance at 3 doubles. It was followed by a great performance by junior transfer Elliot Kahler, and freshman Ian Wagner, at the number 2 spot. They both served extremely well, and most importantly, they were in every return game. Senior Captain, Dillon Pottish, and sophomore, Simon Lavoie-Perusse, overcame 2 breaks, and 4 match points, to catapult us to a 3-0 lead.

We have started out quickly against AUM in doubles before, but today, our singles came through. Pottish lead us with a brilliant win at 1. The match was clinched by Wagner at 3. Wagner played a great match today. Wagner lost a tough first set breaker, but he stayed mentally strong, and cleaned up in the 2nd and 3rd sets. Lavoie-Persusse,  played a strong match at 5 singles, and freshman, Alex Ruderman, got his first win as an Eagle, at the number 6 spot.

It was a very long day and we didn't get our match against Olgethorpe started until 8:00pm. I was proud that we kept focused and won 9-0.

We have a lot of work to do, but it was great start to the 2012 season. For all match results, please go to emoryathletics.com.

AUM AND OLGETHORPE MATCH PREVIEW

Finally, our first match has arrived. We will play a double-header tommorow against AUM and Olgethorpe. AUM is currently the #4 ranked team in NAIA. AUM has by far been our toughest opponent over the years, in fact, our closed match with them was a 5-4 loss. They are usually loaded with talented international players. The key to our match will be getting a quick start in doubles and hopefully, building on that momentum.

Unfortunately, we will be without Chris Goodwin, a 6 time NCAA All-American. Obviously, he will be sorely missed, but he is currently working hard rehabbing his injury, and we are optimistic he will be ready to go by Indoors. This gives the younger players a shot at the lineup and us as a coaching staff to evaluate these guys against the talented AUM team.

Dillon Pottish, will anchor our team at the number 1 spot like he has done the past 3 years. Dillon continues to be the hardest working player in Division III and is ready to begin his final season at Emory. I always in enjoy watching Dillon compete against AUM because it validates my belief that he can hang with anyone in the country no matter what Division they are in.

Coach Howell has done a very nice job of building the Olgethorpe program. Coach Howell has improved his team each year and they are currently ranked #7 in Atlantic-South region. We will need to quickly rebound from the AUM match and get mentally and physically ready to play.

Please follow results at www.emoryathletics.com

Hardy Ehlers, member of the 2006 CHAMPIONSHIP NCAA TEAM

Hardy is currently in his 2nd year at Harvard Law School. Hardy just won a  very prestigious award.

ENTERTAINMENT LAW INITIATIVE SCHOLARSHIP FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Writing competition winners to attend prestigious luncheon and scholarship presentation during GRAMMY Week

GRAMMY.com

The GRAMMY Foundation's 14th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Luncheon & Scholarship Presentation will take place Feb. 10 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The GRAMMY Week event will feature Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek as keynote speaker, and will honor John Branca, a partner in the law firm of Ziffren Brittenham LLP and former Board Chair of MusiCares, as the recipient of the 2012 Service Award, which honors an attorney who has demonstrated a commitment to advancing and supporting the music community through service.

Additionally, the ELI Writing Competition finalists will be honored at the event, with a cash scholarship of $5,000 presented to the author of the winning paper, and $1,500 awarded to four runners-up. Each ELI finalist will receive airfare, hotel accommodations, and a ticket to the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast, as well as invitations to other GRAMMY Week activities.  

The finalists of the 2012 writing competition are:

Winner:
J. Hardy Ehlers, Harvard Law School
"Too Cool To Be Sued? Hype Machine's Legal Issues And What Content Owners' Tolerance Of Them Means For The Music Business And Copyright Law"

Runners-Up:   
Sarah Abelson, University of Colorado, Boulder Law School
"An Emerging Secondary Market For Digital Music: The Legality Of ReDigi And The Extent Of The First Sale Doctrine"

Jonathan D. Evans, Southwestern Law School
"Solving The Sampling Riddle: How The Integrated Clearinghouse Would Benefit The Industry By Promoting Creativity And Creating New Markets While Maintaining Profits For Source Material Owners"

Ryanne E. Perio, Columbia Law School
"Policing The Android Market: Why The Expanding DMCA May Harbor Google From Liability For Illegal File-Sharing Apps Available On Android"

Trevor Roe, Southwestern Law School
"Defendant's Attorneys Fees: Copyright Infringement Cases Impose New Duties On Litigators To Evaluate Their Cases And Inform Their Clients Before Filing"

February 2, 2012 - 5:39pm

in

• 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards
 
• Article
 
• Atlanta
 
• Daniel Ek
 
• Entertainment Law Initiative
 
• GRAMMY Foundation
 
• GRAMMY week
 
• J. Hardy Ehlers
• John Branca
 
• Jonathan D. Evans
 
• Ryanne E. Perio
 
• Sarah Abelson
 
• Trevor Roe
 
• Chicago
 
• Florida
 
• GRAMMY Foundation
 
• Los Angeles
 
• Memphis
• Nashville
 
• New York
 
• Pacific Northwest
 
• Philadelphia
 
• San Francisco
 
• Texas
 
• Washington D.C.
 
• GRAMMY U
 
• Producers & Engineers Wing

ONE OF THE OF THE BEST SUPPORTERS OF EMORY TENNIS

I have had the fortune of getting to know Roy Martino over the past 4 years. The ITA national singles and doubles championship has been held in Mobile, Alabama, home of Roy. Each time we have gone down there, Roy has opened up his house to us, and more importantly, he has been at every match cheering us on. Roy is the ultimate supporter of Emory tennis and athletics, thanks so much Roy for all that you do.

Interview with Roy Martino By Eric Halpern

1.      What do you miss most about College Tennis?

a.       Probably the interactions with my teammates and doubles partners.  But the true answer to your question has to do with when I played varsity soccer at Emory.  Some of the guys that I am closest with now on an ongoing basis.  I miss the guys that I used to play tennis with and my doubles partners, but my life-long friends and the guys who I see all the time are actually the guys that I played soccer with.

2.      Who did you play doubles with?

a.       I played with four different people.  Freshman year, I played three doubles with a guy named Will Weeks.  My sophomore through senior years, I played one doubles.  Sophomore year I played with a guy named Bob Crowll.  Junior year I played with Dave Brayon.  And my senior year I played with Graham Lawrence.

3.      Was the scoring format the same as it is now for matches?

a.       Doubles was a lot different back then, we didn’t play pro-sets, we played two out of three sets with no tiebreaker for the third set, so it was a full third when we split.  And we also played all nine matches and finished all nine of our matches out even when the matches were already decided.  By the time doubles matches started after singles, we never stopped until everything was done.  We played singles before doubles, and singles was two out of three sets as well.  So you could imagine how long those matches could take back then.  We could be out there for a couple of hours for singles and a couple more hours again for doubles.

4.      What was Emory like when you attended it?  How has it changed?

a.       Well, it was a different era back then, and only five college sports existed at Emory.  There were only men’s sports.  They were soccer, cross-country, swimming, track, and tennis.So athletic-wise, things have changed a lot since then with the addition of some new sports over the years.  There were no true divisions of the NCAA back then, there was no separation between Divisions One, Two, or Three.  So what that meant was that in tennis and in soccer, we would play teams that would nowadays be considered Division One powers in both tennis and soccer.  We ended up playing a lot of big time Division One tennis programs who would be cruising on their way through Atlanta down to Florida for spring break.  There were a lot of times that we would be playing guys that were at the very top level at the college level.

5.      How was your experience as a freshman on the tennis team?

a.       It was great, and I was a doubles specialist—I didn’t play singles in my freshman year.  What I found which was pretty different to me, growing up in the Chicago area, was that we were able to play outdoors for somewhere around ten months out of the entire year.  And I think that helped me a lot especially in my sophomore year as I started to improve my singles game.

6.      What advice would you give to current players based on the experiences you had with college tennis?

a.       Never get frustrated.  Even if you think you’re in a slump or not playing great, you always need to remember that things can change, and they can change pretty quickly.  I mean for me, I went from not even playing singles at all in my freshman year to playing 5 singles as a sophomore, and then number two and number one as a junior and then a freshman.

7.      What were your athletic accomplishments throughout your career at Emory?

a.       Well, for soccer I went from never playing at all, to playing a little and then joining the varsity team and becoming a starter in my junior and senior years and then co-captain in my senior year.  As far as intramurals went, I organized a basketball team in my junior year that won the basketball championship for the first time as a non-fraternity team ever.  And because this was the pre-ranking era, we never got to be ranked amongst the other teams in both tennis and soccer.  I was the Bridges Trophy Winner my senior year for the best all-around athlete, I was the most valuable player on the tennis team as well as team captain inmy junior and senior years,I was the first person at Emory to win an NCAA post-graduate scholarship, and I made the Emory Sports Hall of Fame.

8.      What do you do now?

a.       I play tennis three times a week, and I mostly play singles.  Unlike most of the people in my age group, I’m 61, who are just strictly tennis players, I play singles three times a week.  I walk and carry my clubs playing golf two or three times a week, and I travel.  Right now I’m retired, but after I left Emory in ’72, I went to medical school at Emory and graduated in ’76, I did residency training in internal medicine at the University of Cincinnati, I did fellowship training in Hematology and was Chief Medical Resident at the University of Cincinnati.  I then went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for two years to do fellowship training and Medical oncology.  In ’84 I moved to Mobile, Alabama to become a faculty advisor at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine.

9.      What made your experience at Emory so special?

a.       Well, Don Schroer was a great coach.  He had only coached for one year when I came on my freshman year.  It was a great experience playing for Don, he kind of was the architect for Emory tennis, so as to put it.  Don remains the first person I look to to find when I come back to the Emory campus.  He is a friend, a mentor, and his influence on all of the individuals on our team was extraordinary.