Today’s tennis matchup with the Washington Huskies will be Oregon senior Mike Myrhed’s last home match in a Duck uniform. Myrhed, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, has been with the Duck squad for four years and will be missed once the season draws to a close.
But unfortunately for Myrhed, his final season as an Oregon Duck has not turned out quite the way he hoped. After beginning the 2009 season with five straight wins in singles play, Myrhed suffered a groin injury that sidelined him for six weeks. And once he was healthy enough to return to action, he fell sick again and missed several more matches.
But injuries are nothing new to Myrhed.
During his freshman year he dealt with a stress fracture in his foot, along with repetitive shoulder problems. But things began to look up the following year when Myrhed found his stride at the No. 5 singles position. He compiled a 6-2 record there and a 13-10 singles record overall.
“He a great kid and student,” third-year head coach Nils Schyllander said. “But he’s had to deal with a lot of injuries.”
Myrhed was named to the Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic first-team his sophomore year with a 3.85 GPA.
As a junior he put together a 7-7 record in singles play, while teaming up with Alex Cornelissen – now a junior on the Duck squad – to earn a 7-3 record at the No. 2 doubles spot.
“He always fights,” Cornelissen said. “He never gives up no matter how far he’s down.”
Myrhed, who plans on graduating next winter with a business degree, said it was the tennis program that brought him to the University in the first place.
“I really wanted to play at a high level,” Myrhed said. “And I’ve had a great time here.”
He was particularly glad to see Schyllander hired as head coach three years ago – the two are second cousins.
“We get along well,” Myrhed said. “I think of him as my coach on the court and a part of the family off of it. But it’s all business on the court.”
Oregon did not match up well with the Huskies when the two met Feb. 20, as the Ducks fell 7-0. But today, Myrhed and the rest of the team want to make sure that they cap Senior Day off with a win.
“We feel very good,” Cornelissen said. “We want to take (Washington) down and we want to do it here.”
“It’s going to be a really good match,” Schyllander said. “I want Mike to be able to go out with a bang.”
Cornelissen, who has played with Myrhed quite a bit over the past several seasons, also commented on the rate at which Myrhed’s game has improved while at the University.
“Well, he’s developed a lot,” Cornelissen said. “He had a tough freshman year, but really started to enjoy the team as he matured.”
Throughout his time here, Myrhed has always been noticed for not only his work ethic, but for the intensity that he brings to every single match.
“He is a very good competitor,” Schyllander said. “Sometimes too good, then he gets a little angry out there.”
This year has been particularly hard on Myrhed, who undoubtedly wanted to end his career as strongly as possible, but hasn’t really been able to while being constantly sidelined.
“It’s been really hard having to deal with the injuries,” Myrhed said.
But no matter the circumstances, Myrhed will be on the court today in what will likely be a bittersweet experience for the lone senior.
“It’s going to be a little weird,” Myrhed said of his final home match. “This is something that I’ve been doing for the last 15 years.”
Today’s match will begin at 1 p.m. and could be a good match throughout. This will be the Ducks’ last regular-season match before the Pac-10 tournament begins next week in Ojai, Calif.
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