What a start to 2023.

The Oregon women’s tennis team had a tremendous opening weekend with a homestand that saw the Ducks (2-0) outscore their opponents 10-1.

“There’s always some first match jitters that go into starting the season,” Oregon coach Courtney Nagle said. “It’s nice to get that first match under your belt and get those competitive juices flowing.”

Nagle referenced her squad’s jitters, but they rarely, if ever, showed this weekend. 

The juices, the chemistry and the talent are all flowing from the Ducks early in the 2023 season. Oregon shut out Portland State (2-1) 4-0 and dominated Seattle University (1-3) 6-1 to start the season 2-0.

It really shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Ducks are coming hot off a 2022 season in which they won 15 games and made the NCAA National Tournament for the first time since 2017-2018.

And nearly the whole team is back.

There’s only one new face on the team this year: Jo-Yee Chan. The freshman from Sugar Hill, Georgia, made her debut this past weekend. She earned a 6-0 doubles win with Ares Teixido Garcia, and singles set 2-0 victory against Seattle, on Sunday. 

She said she was incredibly nervous to come out and play for the Ducks but has been smothered with support and love from her new teammates. 

“I’ve connected so well with everyone,” Chan said. “Everybody’s so supportive, and that’s why we have such a close connection. It helps a lot with the nerves.”

The chemistry of this team seems to be a theme for the year. Everyone knows who they are and what they’re capable of. Sophie Luescher and Myah Petchey will rely on their accuracy and ability to place the ball anywhere they want on the court. Teixido Garcia and Misaki Kobayashi will demonstrate incredible power and speed in their hits, and Karin Young and Uxia Martinez Moral’s ranges will be on full display this season as they wear down opponents. For Oregon, hopes and expectations are through the roof. 

“They know each other really well,” Nagle said. “They know how to help each other on the sideline, and they’ve only improved since last year so I think we’re a better team than last year.”

In order to truly improve, the Ducks are putting an emphasis on doubles play in 2023. With five of six returning singles, doubles play remains the biggest question mark.

“[Doubles matches] are always a point of interest,” Nagle said. “It’s always something we focus on, and we’re always trying to find the best scenario where we can have three solid teams that can win at any position. We’re trying to get [our doubles combinations] locked in as soon as possible.” 

The doubles point seemed to significantly dictate success for Oregon in 2022. In matches where the Ducks got the doubles point, they were 12-1. When they lost it, they were 3-8. 

Finding the right pairings is going to be key. There were six different combinations tested by the Ducks over their first weekend of play, and none of them lost their doubles match.

Sophie Luescher and Uxia Martinez Moral paired up a lot last year, and it’s likely that the European duo will team up often this year. They won their doubles match 6-3 on Sunday. 

The other two duos are up in the air, but Nagle says finding combinations that click is a high priority for the team right now.

Singles play was solid last year and over the weekend, and it should only get better this season. Luescher –– who spent most of 2022 in the No. 1 spot –– is back and looking great. Myah Petchey (No. 2) is back and looking for a big year after a 15-12 record in singles play last year. 

Teixido Garcia –– who was phenomenal as the No. 3 last year –– has her spot locked up. Karin Young –– a 2022 All Pac-12 honorable mention –– will likely have the No. 4 spot again this year, and Martinez Moral –– who was 17-8 in singles play –– is bringing her consistent energy back to her No. 5 spot. 

The No. 6 is the one spot that needs to be filled this year after Allison Mulville transferred to Ball State during the offseason. 

But between Chan and Misaki Kobayashi, Oregon has options. Really talented options. 

“If everyone’s healthy I think we have a lot of talent and a lot of potential,” Young said. “It’s a really fun group of girls, and I’m just really excited to see where it goes.”

There’s still plenty of time to get lineups figured out before conference play starts on March 3, but a big test looms in the very near future.

The Ducks have one of the toughest challenges on their 2023 schedule less than a month into the season. The ITA Kickoff Weekend is a nationwide tennis tournament at the beginning of each season. The top teams from across the country compete in four-team brackets to see where each team stands as the season gets underway.

Oregon heads to Stillwater, Oklahoma, this weekend to play in a bracket that includes No. 14 Oklahoma State (1-0), No. 16 Michigan (1-0) and Kansas (1-0) – who also received votes to be ranked. 

The Ducks will play the Cowboys on Saturday and either the Jayhawks or Wolverines on Sunday. Should Oregon land Michigan, the Ducks will be presented with a chance at revenge on the team that eliminated them in the 2022 NCAA Tournament and ended their historic season.

“We’re just taking it one round at a time,” Nagle said. “We’ll see if we get to play [Michigan] or not, but obviously we had a great match with them and it would be great to get to play them again.”

The Wolverines shut the Ducks out 4-0 in the first round of the tournament last season — a bitter end to what had been a tremendous year. 

As for this year, Oregon is full of optimism and excitement for the 2023 season, but a major trial and chance to see just how it compares to the top teams awaits the Ducks this weekend.

The Ducks went 0-2 in the ITA Kickoff Weekend last season with losses to Tulsa and Charlotte. Finding even small amounts of success this upcoming weekend could do wonders for Oregon’s goal of improvement for 2023.