Men's Tennis blog with Chris Camillone: Jan. 13
Jan. 13, 2012 Starting this spring semester, there will be a cornucopia of blogs about men’s tennis because we have entered a time of intense banter known as the team season. Break was fine. It's always good to get a little bit of time away from school. By the time this blog is posted I’ll probably have already received my books for the upcoming semester. We have two new additions to the team: Joey Swaysland and Lloyd Glasspool. I just met Joey after we got back from our trip to Miami. To answer your next question(s), yes the team went to Miami, and I will address that trip momentarily so just sit back and relax with a big glass of calm-down juice. Joey is from Australia and his accent is very thick. Joey also happens to be very tall and big… like a monster. A nice monster, that is really happy all the time. Joey hits a thick ball from pretty much everywhere on the court; his volleys move faster than my serve. As I’m sure all of you know, Joey had some lethal results with his Junior Davis Cup Team a little while back. Joey is a great dude, brings good energy, works as hard as anyone around, and I know the whole team is excited to get all his papers dealt with so he can ease his mind, settle in, and start battling some matches. If only our coach, Michael Center, would get on that… iguales! Lloyd is a big dude too. He has to be like 6-foot-3. I’m pretty much surrounded by big guys now. As the team continues to expand, I start getting shorter and shorter in comparison to the rest of the lads. It’s unfortunate. Anyway, Lloyd is from England, and has a thick accent as well. This is when I expect some attention from the females: Two new big guys on campus with thick accents. You’re welcome for giving you the heads up. Side note: I would say I have a lot of random side notes, like this bit about the accents, but that would insinuate that I have a consistent train of thought throughout this blog, which is incorrect.
Moving on … I’ve seen Lloyd play a little bit more than Joey. I actually played some dubs with Lloyd. He’s explosive. By that I mean he hits the serve about 3,000 mph and his forehand about 2,000 mph. He’s got the loose whip of a right arm that sends the ball out like a giant cannon-slingshot thing (official scientific terminology right there). He is a great fighter and does some pretty incredible things on the court. It is obvious that Joey and Lloyd both plan on becoming very good tennis players and there is no doubt they will be. In Miami everyone did well. I’ll start off by saying that the whole team was nails in dubs the whole weekend. We still have room to improve in that area, but given the initial success, I would say our starting point is great. Soren had a tough start in singles and lost a long battle to a really good player, but he turned it around and came out on top of the long grind he encountered the next day against another very talented player. Even though he was obviously displeased at times, Soren’s toughness through periods of frustrating tennis really stood out, particularly in his second match. Shmill played well the whole weekend. I spent a lot of time watching him play this weekend, and he looks as good as I’ve ever seen him; the whole game really seems to be clicking. He is just making plays when it matters like the key player that he is. I didn’t get to see Chen and Danny too much, but they both looked really steady in singles, as they moved well and moved the ball well, hitting their spots when they took chances. They both cruised in each of the singles matches I got to watch them play. More importantly they seemed match-tough and comfortable, which is what we want from the veterans. They had similar weekends in the regard that they were mind-numbingly tough every single game, exhausting their opponents from start to finish, and I think that showed in the results. The best way to describe Jacoby up until this point is that he is a gamer. He always seems to put himself in the best position possible on important points. Whenever a big point came around I just thought to myself, “I’M NOT CONCERNED!” This may seem fundamental and simple, but it’s extremely difficult and Jacoby does it extremely well. Suds spent the whole weekend knockin' doors down on dudes. All that needs to be said is that he hit a different gear, and the guy is firing on all cylinders. His confidence is high, which is what you want coming from a great player early in the season. Disco has really started to hit the ball bigger and play at a higher tempo on a consistent basis. When Dave settles in and really dictates the flow of the match good things tend to follow, and we saw that for three days in a row. Finally, Lloyd did some stuff with the ball, particularly with the forehand, that was simply absurd. He had an exceptional weekend that showed great promise, regardless of that vital fact that he had started these matches two days in to being a college athlete. Lloyd is tough on himself, so I’m sure he wishes he played better, but there were several times where he made opponents look helpless. Last thing: Ask Jacoby how he liked the beach! |
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