With seven freshmen on an 11-man team, the No. 73 Wisconsin men’s tennis team is in a rebuilding stage. The Badgers have even added four new players since January: Austin Akers, Fredrik Ask, Lucas Bin and Rod Carey.
Yet head coach Greg Van Emburgh still feels good about the progression of his team.
“I think overall our freshmen, since I’ve been here, in my sixth year now, they’ve been tremendous. I think they’ve all improved,” Van Emburgh said. “The first thing you look for as a coach is ‘have you gotten and developed a better student athlete.’ I think we’ve been able to do that. I think when you’re able to do that you’re also able to have success on the court, and we’ve been fortunate to do that as well.”
This season, the Badgers have battled injury and sickness and are just trying to get healthy before the Big Ten Tournament, but one of the Badgers’ main problems this season has been their lack of experience.
“It’s been one of those years where you’re rebuilding. We lost five out of our top six, and our main focus is getting them experience and getting healthy,” Van Emburgh says. “I feel like we’ve got a lot of potential with our players and they’re on board to have the success we’ve had within the last six years and gaining that experience. We’re just a young group right now, but the future of our team looks solid.”
One freshman duo making the Badgers proud this season is Carey and Ask. In their time together, the pair is 3-1 in Big Ten play. They are gaining more experience with each match. While Ask is working to come back from a battle with mononucleosis early in the season, he enjoys playing with Carey.
“We work well together; we have good chemistry together,” Ask said.
Overall, four out of the Badger’s seven freshman are not from the United States. Ask, from Norway, stated that Wisconsin’s athletic program was one of the main reasons for choosing the university.
But, as with any other freshman athlete, there are differences. Ask said there’s a big difference between playing internationally and playing collegiately.
“For me, it was a big change from playing international tennis to college tennis. There’s a lot more screaming during the matches and no umpires,” Ask said.
While transitioning, a lot is expected of freshman athletes at the collegiate level.
“Overall you want to look at how hard they want to work and how competitive they are,” Van Emburgh said. “Obviously, they must be a great student athlete here at the university, so those are a few priorities and traits you definitely want to look at.”
As their freshman season nears its end, the Badger men are looking to make a transition from being the underdogs. Van Emburgh said the change is vast.
“I think the growth of the development and the experience, when you first come in here, you’re unsure of where you fit in and where you are. I think that and the experience with a year under your belt is huge.”
As Wisconsin nears playing host to the Big Ten Tournament, each match provides more and more experience for the freshman. But, before the tournament, Wisconsin has a tough battle in No. 2 ranked Ohio State.
“They’re a great team; they’ve done a great job with their program over the years,” Van Emburgh said. “We have good players; we just have to be loose and believe. We don’t have to beat them 10 times on Friday. We just have to go out there, play our best tennis at home and beat them once. I’m optimistic. The guys know the situation and what’s at stake, so hopefully they’ll come out there and be confident.”