The Oregon men’s and women’s tennis teams began preseason play last weekend, and will continue into this week.
Oregon freshman Marcos Verdasco, a native of Spain, opened his collegiate tennis career with a win when he beat Denver’s Timo Kienle 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the ITA All-American Championships pre-qualifying tournament. Verdasco then lost 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to Elon’s Anuwat Dalodorn.
The All-American Championships is a tournament that players qualify for based on individual ranking points.
“This tournament is one of three grand slams in college tennis. Marcos is a freshman, so he got into the tournament based on what he’d done in Spain,” men’s assistant coach Bart Scott said. “He had some very good wins in Spain, and he even beat a guy who was in the top-40 there. Rafael Nadal is No. 1 in Spain (and No. 2 in the world), so that gives you a good idea of the kind of standard Marcos was playing at.”
The men next head to Santa Clara on Thursday for the Bronco Classic, while three-quarters of the women’s team will play in the Jack Taylor Classic, in Boise, Idaho.
The women’s team will be without the services of senior Dominika Dieskova and sophomore Ceci Olivos. Dieskova and Olivos, ranked No. 12 in doubles nationally, are already in Los
Angeles, Calif, playing in the All-American Championships.
Over the weekend, Olivos also played in the pre-qualifying tournament to enter the main singles draw. She lost a close three-set match 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 to Northwestern’s Laura Lui in the opening round of the tournament.
Dieskova is the top seed in the tournament’s qualifying draw. With her No. 27 pre-season ranking, she barely missed out on a direct bid to the main draw. She faces Arizona’s Juliette Mavroleon today.
“The top-24 go directly into the main draw, and the next eight go to the qualifiers,” women’s coach Paul Reber said. “Dominika’s got the ability to go far in the draw. I like to say she could win it.
“She’s got a lot of shots she can work with, and I’ve competed against her before when I was with Arizona State, so I know what she can do.”
Before he took over Oregon’s women’s tennis program this season, Reber was the assistant women’s coach at Arizona State, where he also played his college tennis.
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