George Washington University Athletics
Men's Tennis 2017 Season Outlook
1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
WASHINGTON - The three-time defending Atlantic 10 champion George Washington men's tennis squad begins the spring 2017 season on Saturday under the direction of first-year head coach David Macpherson as the Colonials travel to Drake University for a doubleheader with the host Bulldogs and Northern Illinois.
GW returns six student-athletes from last year's roster - including three All-Conference selections - and have added three freshman to the team. In 2016, the Buff and Blue defeated VCU in the A-10 Championship match for the third-consecutive season to claim GW's fifth conference crown in the last six seasons.
Macpherson will look to an experienced group of upperclassmen to lead the way in the dual match season, headed by senior captain Julius Tverijonas.
Tverijonas put together a stellar fall season, leading GW with a 12-4 overall singles record and a 7-3 mark in doubles action. An A-10 First Team selection last spring, Tverijonas enters the season with an ITA Atlantic Region singles ranking of No. 13 - the highest of his career. Tverijonas played exclusively at the No. 1 singles position for the Colonials a year ago.
"Julius is the ultimate compeitior and is always extremely well-prepared and super fit," said Macpherson. "He always fights 'til the end. He's been working on becoming a more offensive player this offseason so he can compete against the very best players in the country. He anchors our team in both singles and doubles."
Junior Chris Reynolds looks to have another productive spring after a breakout sophomore campaign. The only Colonial to reach the 20-win plateau in singles last season, Reynolds brings a high level of competitiveness and energy to every match. An A-10 First Team selection in 2016, Reynolds missed most of the fall season due to injury but is back to top form for the spring slate. Reynolds played throughout the 3-5 positions last season in singles.
"Chris Reynolds is certainly another one of our team leaders," said Macpherson. "He's an energy source for the team and fires everyone up, playing with a lot of passion. He's a powerful player and also tremendous in singles and doubles. He'll be a hugely important part of keeping our team strong against the best schools."
Junior Chris Fletcher, an A-10 Second Team honoree in 2016, returns after playing in the Nos. 2-4 positions in singles play last season. Fletcher posted a solid 4-4 singles record in the fall with a 6-2 doubles record playing alongside Tverijonas.
"Chris Fletcher is capable of great tennis," said Macpherson. "We really saw a lot of improvement in his mental game in the fall. He's getting more and more confident and is certainly capable of beating any player when he's playing his best tennis. I'm very excited about his prospects this season."
The Colonials also return junior Christos Hadjigeorgiou from their Championship singles lineup last season. Hadjigeorgiou competed at the 3-6 positions of the singles ladder last spring, finishing with an overall 12-19 record.
"Christos is a wonderfully talented player with a beautiful touch and beautiful skills," said Macpherson. He's also a doubles natural so we'll be relying on him in the doubles a lot. He's a beautiful serve-volleyer. He's learning to marshal his talents to produce his best play at singles as well."
Senior Fernando Sala returns for his second season as a Colonial and final of his career after posting an overall 10-6 singles record last season.
"Fernando's got a wicked serve and a wicked forehand," said Macpherson. "He has great doubles instincts, so he is one of our strongest doubles players and is also a great team leader. He provides great energy for all the players."
Junior Jabari Stafford is the final returner from last year's squad and looks to make a strong impact in 2017.
"I'm super excited and happy to have Jabari back," said Macpherson. "He's an enormously powerful player and his potential is extremely high. I believe that if we can coach him well and get the best out of him, Jabari can accomplish incredible things."
A talented group of rookies look to jump into the fold and help the Colonials win matches right from the beginning of the season.
Freshman William Tutecky posted an unblemished 4-0 solo mark in the fall with a 3-1 doubles record alongside classmate Dennis Afanasev. Afanasev tallied a strong 5-4 singles record to begin his career.
"William is an enormously talented, brilliant player," said Macpherson. "He has the ability to play with the best players in the country. We're just trying to get him to play to his full potential more and more. His game has got enormous skill and power.
"Dennis has been a rock for us already in his young career," said Macpherson. "You can always rely on Dennis to compete to the maximum. He's got a beautiful ground game and he's working on developing his doubles skills as well, but he's certainly a rock hard competitor and someone you can rely on to give you a strong effort every day."
The Colonials have added freshman Jakub Behun to the roster for the spring semester. The 2015 18U Slovak National Champion in singles looks to make an immediate impact on the squad.
"Jakub seems very much in the mold of Julius -- he's very hard working, competitive and tough," said Macpherson. "Not having seen him play matches yet, I feel that I'm going to see a young Julius emerge on our team which is obviously a great thing to develop a young leader like that. He can be very promising."
With a team that has experienced great successes at the conference level in recent history, Macpherson continues to have high expectations for 2017. With their sights set on another A-10 title, the Colonials hope to continue to grow and look for success at the national level.
"We're just trying to get the team to be the best they can be," said Macpherson. "In the A-10 Championship they've accomplished great things to be successful and win three in a row. And it's a tough conference and getting tougher, so that's still a very great feat to accomplish, to defend that title. That's certainly one of the first and foremost things we're trying to accomplish, but we're also just trying to be the best we can be so that if we get a chance to compete against the bigger programs. We want to be competitive and eventually work toward even larger goals to be very competitive on the national stage."
GW will face a big challenge early in the season at Florida State (Feb. 11). Macpherson hopes to use that match as a gauge of how far the team has come and indicate how the Colonials will compete against the top programs in the country.
"They're a very strong program," said Macpherson. "We're going to their place and will play at their home courts, so it's certainly a challenge, but that will hopefully be a match that will tell us where we are and if our players are close to being at that level. That's kind of like a benchmark game for us early in the season."
The Colonials will look to defend their title from April 27-30 in Orlando, Florida, at the newly constructed USTA National Campus.
Players Mentioned
