Before the regular season starts up in late January, the Oregon tennis teams will first embark on their fall preseason schedules beginning this weekend.
The Oregon men will travel across the country to compete
in the 2004 Icy Hot/ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn., beginning today and ending Oct. 10. It is
the first of three national championship events this season.
The 25th edition of the annual event will feature 350 players from more than 70 NCAA Division I colleges, making it the largest tournament in collegiate tennis today in terms of number of participants.
Several Ducks are scheduled to compete, including top returning seniors Sven Swinnen and Manuel Kost.
Interim head coach Ross Duncan, who took over the team
after former head coach Chris Russell joined the University of
Washington as associate head coach on Sept. 16, said he is expecting great things from his top two players this season.
“My expectations for them are very high,” said Duncan, who is in his second year at Oregon. “They both made the NCAA Tournament last year, but they both lost in the first round. … My expectations for them are really, really high.”
Swinnen, who had a 22-8 record in singles last season, is currently ranked the No. 12 singles player in the nation, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason poll. The No. 12 ranking is the highest singles ranking ever in Oregon men’s tennis history.
Swinnen, a native of Wurenlingen, Switzerland, said one of
his goals is to repeat last year’s success.
“I hope we do it like last year,” said Swinnen, who was an All-Pac-10 member and an All-American last season. “We made it for the first time to the NCAA’s. Now our goal this year is to do it again and then win some matches and win a couple of tournaments, and we’ll do great.” His teammate, Kost, is also one of the top ranked players in the nation this season. The 22-year-old Kost is ranked the No. 30 singles player in the nation. It is the highest ranking ever in his career.
Kost, a native of Kuessnacht, Switzerland, reached his second consecutive NCAA Tournament last spring after tallying an 18-10 singles record.
In his final season as a Duck, Kost said he is dedicated to having his finest year ever in Eugene.
“I want to have my best season,” said Kost, who earned an All-Pac-10 mention in 2004. “I hope we have the best season as a team, too, because we have only one senior (Chris King) who left.”
Also slated to compete in the singles portion is junior Thomas Bieri, who had a 13-16 singles record last season.
In doubles, Swinnen and junior
Arron Spencer are scheduled to
compete after posting a 17-9 record last season. The duo is ranked No. 9 in the country.
Women head to California
While the men head east, the Oregon women’s team stays on the west coast and will travel to Pacific Palisades, Calif., for the 2004 Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships , beginning tomorrow and ending Oct. 10.
The tournament will feature 22 of the top 25 players in the preseason ITA singles rankings in the singles main draw.
One of the top eight seeds in the main draw is Oregon senior Daria Panova. The 22-year-old Panova, who is a two-time All-American and three-time Pac-10 Conference champion, is ranked No. 8 in the nation, according to the ITA.
Last season, she tied her own school record of most season victories in singles from 2003 when she posted 32 wins. With one more victory, Panova will become the all-time career leader at Oregon, passing Krissy Barger, who had 72 victories from 1991-94.
The other Oregon entrant is sophomore Dominika Dieskova, who qualified for the NCAA Tournament as a freshman last season. Dieskova, who had a 20-17 record in 2004, is ranked No. 51 in the nation.

Alex Tam is a Freelance Reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald