Two-thirds of Oregon’s “Swiss Army” hopes to slice through their first-round opponents in the NCAA Men’s Singles Tennis Championship in Tulsa, Okla., today.
Sven Swinnen and Manuel Kost, both Switzerland natives, drew tough opening-round matches in the 120th men’s NCAA Tournament. The 16th-ranked Swinnen will face No. 44 William Barker from Rice and No. 66 Kost will match up with Virginia’s Doug Stewart, who is ranked in the nation’s top 10.
Oregon head coach Chris Russell thinks every match in this tournament is going to be tough.
“Every player in this tournament is good and there will be no easy matches,” Russell said.
Barker comes in hot, having won his last six matches. He joins his twin brother, Richard, to form the top-ranked doubles team in the country.
Though Swinnen and Barker haven’t played each other this season, their teams did match up in late February. Swinnen defeated Rice’s top player, No. 35 Robert Searle, and Barker lost to Kost.
“They know our guy and we know theirs, so it should be interesting,” Russell said.
While Swinnen is seen as the favorite, the 66th-ranked Kost will appear to be the underdog, but don’t tell that to Russell.
“Manu raises his game against the big guys,” Russell said.
Stewart is currently ranked ninth in the nation and is 23-8 this season, including winning six of his last seven matches. Two of those victories came against fifth-ranked Phillip King of Duke.
“Stewart is a very respected player around the country,” Russell said.
Kost also comes into the match with confidence, making it to the quarterfinals in what is arguably the toughest conference tournament in the nation.
Russell knows Kost is a dangerous player and has proved it throughout the season.
“If he gets hot, everybody in this tournament better watch out,” Russell said.
Kost has beaten some of the best the Pacific-10 Conference has to offer this season, including victories over 10th-ranked Alex Vlaski of Washington and the very tough Luben Pampoulov of UCLA.
Kost, originally an alternate, made it to the tournament as a result of at least three or four players dropping out due to injuries, Russell said.
“It’s good for us and our program to have two people in the tournament,” Russell said. “Manu has been practicing like he was going to play all week anyways and practicing against Swin definitely helps him out.”