University of Minnesota Athletics
Thomson Talks Early-Season Success
3/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
March 6, 2012
2012 Schedule l Season Stats and Results
GopherSports: Ty, your team is off to a 9-1 start this year and has five wins against ranked opponents. What are your thoughts on the season so far?
Tyler Thomson: The biggest things that have contributed to our early success so far are our depth and our health. This is the first time in many years where if one of our top players becomes injured, we have multiple people who can step into the lineup and not have much of a concern about it affecting our ability to be successful. We have had one major injury, but our depth has allowed us to maintain playing at a high level.
Beyond that, the most important thing is that the entire team is competing really well. They exhibit a lot of fight in every match and the team is more of a team this year. They get along better and play for one another more than ever before.
GS: Last year, the team was decimated by injuries. You said there was only one injury so far this season and Magdalena Wiecha is already back in the lineup. That has to be a good feeling.
TT: It is very comforting to know that as Magda returns to full strength we will be an ever better team. She is definitely one of the better doubles players in the conference. It is also very comforting to know that we have a team that has a lot of very capable players. On any given day, a lot of different people can contribute. We had Julia Courter out of the lineup against Virginia Tech and we did not miss a beat and she typically play in the middle of our lineup. So that is a really nice bonus.
GS: Alexa Palen, who is from Rochester, Minn., is 9-0 this year and is 3-0 at No. 1 singles. Has she turned into the type of player you always envisioned? One that you can use in the top spot in the lineup?
TT: Absolutely. I always knew that she would be. But it has taken patience with her and with me too. She has been very diligent in making some necessary changes in the way she thinks on the court and the way she competes and with some of the technical aspects of her game. The development of her forehand is probably the biggest piece of her technical development because her forehand used to be her biggest liability and now it is a shot that can be depended upon as a strength that can create some offense. She is playing with a lot of confidence. She has a clear idea about how she wants to play each match. She is executing beautifully and competing really well.
GS: Another player who is off to a good start is freshman Tereza Brichacova. She just joined the team in January, but is 7-1 this year. A lot of fans don't know anything about her. What can you tell us?
TT: We call her Z and she has only been here for a little more than two months. She has transitioned beautifully. It is not easy to come into a new environment, especially a new country in the middle of the season, and transition smoothly. And she has done that. She is very dependable and resourceful young woman. Her tennis has some great weapons and I think she is going to climb in the lineup throughout her career here. She has the type of game that can be a top of the lineup type of game. For now, the most important things with her are more on the mental side, like consistent focus and understanding how to play the game a little bit cleaner. But she has a big game and competes really well.
GS: You have shuffled your lineup quite a bit in the first 10 matches of the season. A lot of players have played at three and sometimes four different positions in the lineup. How nice is it for you to have such a deep team, where you feel confident to move so many players around?
TT: From a coaching perspective, it allows a little more ability to match up especially at the bottom of the lineup. We have so many players who are pretty equal in ability, but we also have a number of differing game styles on the roster. That has been a real luxury for us. We have some players near the bottom of our lineup whose real strengths are grinding and consistency and we have others who can hurt somebody. That is the primary reason for the movement. Also, at the top of the lineup we want to give Natallia Pintusava and Alexa Palen an opportunity to play No. 1. They are both No. 1 type players and it is nice to give each of them opportunities at the No. 1 position.
GS: You have nine wins this year in 10 matches. The team only won eight matches all of last season. What has been the main difference?
TT: It is a combination of a lot of things. Our health is certainly the most obvious. It is hard to be successful when your better players are not on the court, so that is a big part of it. But our freshman class has been a real energizing freshman class, both in the team environment and in the way they approach the game and compete. Julia Courter, in particular, has been a real spark plug for us and has done a great job to a certain degree of changing the dynamic on the team. We have a group of 11 people who are really taking ownership in the fact that it is their team and they are motivated to make it one of the best years ever for Minnesota tennis. It is a lot of things coming together and we are trying to improve every day.
GS: You are 3-0 against ranked teams on the road despite losing the doubles point in each match. What does that say about your team?
TT: We lost the doubles point in all three matches, but we came back and showed resolved and showed our depth really. It is kind of daunting to lose the doubles point against good teams and think then that you have to win four out of six in singles. We actually ended up winning five of six singles in all of those. That really shows the team that there is no need to go into panic mode if we do not win doubles. It also shows them that with improvement in our doubles we will be an even better team.
It also continues to help build our confidence. It past years we have not had the opportunity to build confidence as a result of wins. We had to look elsewhere. When you have some wins it really helps people to build their confidence.
