Following four straight wins over unranked opponents, the men's tennis team traveled to Montgomery, Ala., last week to compete against ranked teams in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. No. 59 Brown dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 22 University of Tulsa, fell 4-1 to No. 31 Texas Tech University and lost a 4-0 match to the No. 67 California State University, Fresno.
"This weekend was important for us to learn how to compete with some of the better teams in the country," said Joe Scott '08. "We got a lot of good examples of really strong teams and how they perform on big stages."
The Bears gave up their first doubles point of the season in the match against Tulsa. At second doubles, the 30th-ranked duo of co-captain Eric Thomas '07 and Basu Ratnam '09 fell 8-3 to No. 41 Diego Camacho and Ross Cunningham. Zack Pasanen '07 and Saurabh Kohli '08 had a closer match against Andy Connelly and Lucques Maasdorp at third doubles, but they lost 8-5 to give the Golden Hurricane the doubles point.
The Tulsa squad then won three singles matches to claim the victory. At third singles, Thomas dropped a 6-3, 6-2 match to Ricardo Soriano. Meanwhile, at fifth singles, Pasanen narrowly lost the first set to Cunningham by a score of 7-6, then fell 6-3 in the second set. Noah Gardner '09 suffered a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Camacho at sixth singles.
The remaining three singles matches - which the Bears were in good positions to win - were not completed, as the four points clinched victory for the Golden Hurricane. At second singles, Ratnam was leading Federico Soriano 7-6, 2-1, while at fourth singles, Kohli had taken his first set 7-6.
"I played pretty well, but we just ran out of time," Ratnam said. "The match against Tulsa was closer than the score indicated."
The next day, against Texas Tech, the Bears dropped four singles matches and won one. The first three losses came at second, third and sixth singles as Ratnam, Thomas and Gardner fell in straight sets. At fourth singles, Kohli gave the Bears their only win of the weekend, defeating Michael Breler 6-4, 7-5.
With the score at 3-1, the outcome of the first singles match decided whether the Bears would remain in play. Co-captain Dan Hanegby '07 lost the first set to Dimitrio Martinez 6-2, then bounced back to win the second set 6-2. The third set was close, but Hanegby ultimately dropped the set 6-4 to give the Red Raiders the victory.
"We didn't play our best," Scott said. "We could have played a lot better."
In their final match of the competition, the Bears again came up short in doubles play. At first doubles, Hanegby and Chris Lee '09 fell 8-4, and at second doubles, Thomas and Ratnam dropped a close 8-6 match, giving Fresno State the doubles point.
The Bears took straight-set losses in singles to finish off the loss. Ratnam fell to Mirko Zapletal 6-2, 6-0 at second singles, and Pasanen lost 7-5, 6-1 at fifth singles. Scott dropped the sixth singles match to Tejesvi Mollinedo by a score of 6-2, 6-4 to complete the Bulldogs' 4-0 victory.
"It was my first big match," Scott said. "I think I played well, but I didn't compete well. I didn't figure out a way to win. That's what we all have to learn how to do for the Ivy League season."
For a team that usually wins decisively, the losses were hard to swallow. "We went in with some expectations," Ratnam said. "It was a tough transition. We played easier schools the past couple weeks, but then we ran into stiff competition."
During spring break, the Bears will travel to Boca Raton, Fla., for a match against Florida Atlantic University on March 26, compete against North Carolina State University on March 30 in Massachusetts and then return to Providence to host Wake Forest University on April 1. These matches will be Brown's last before the Ivy League season begins.
"It's important for us to have this kind of experience before the Ivies," Scott said. "That's when it really all has to come together, when it's most important for us to play well."
