University of Minnesota Athletics
Seniors Set to Finish Successful Careers
4/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Story by Rachel Timmerman
The men's tennis senior class has an impressive résumé.
In the current national individual rankings, senior Leandro Toledo is 23rd in singles and classmates Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment are 53rd in doubles together. The class has an overall record of 56-38 in four years.
As a team, the Gophers are ranked 33rd and are tied for second in the Big Ten standings with Ohio State, holding an 8-1 conference record after securing the Little Brown Jug against Michigan and defeated Michigan State last weekend.
Here's a rundown on each of the four Gopher seniors:
Rochester, Minn. native Eric Frueh plays doubles with freshman Matic Spec. He is one win behind Toledo to be Minnesota's active leader in career doubles wins. Frueh has won the ITA Scholar-Athlete award two years in a row, and the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award.
Froment traveled from France to play for the Maroon and Gold. He and senior Jack Hamburg have been paired together since their sophomore year, and they are now the Gophers' No. 1 doubles tandem. He has also played throughout the singles lineup.
Hamburg came to Minnesota from South Dakota and has also played throughout the singles lineup. He and Froment were an alternate pairing for the NCAA Doubles Tournament last season--a tournament that consists of the top 32 doubles teams in the country.
Toledo, who hails from Germany, became Minnesota's first All-American since 2002 last season. He is the Gophers' No. 1 singles player and is 9-0 in Big Ten singles play. His wins last week gave him 95 for his career, ranking him 11th in program history.
Both coming from Europe, Toledo and Froment established a quick bond when they first came to Minnesota.
"We were roommates freshman year, so we spent a lot of time together," Toledo said.
Hamburg and Frueh lived across the hall from Toledo and Froment, and are now all roommates.
Hamburg says the seniors are a tight-knit group on and off the court.
"Getting to know these guys has been a great pleasure of mine," Hamburg said. "I'm sure they'll all be long lasting friends."
This week, the Gophers will host No. 3-ranked and No. 1 in the Big Ten, Illinois, and No. 27 Northwestern to finish the regular season.
The Gophers are 10-0 at home so far this season and are 34-7 at the Baseline Tennis Center with this year's senior class.
Head coach Geoff Young will be sad to see these four athletes go, but said it was fun to watch them develop as players and people.
"It's the most rewarding thing to watch them grow and watch them change and evolve," Young said.
With their final post season just around the corner, Toledo said he was shocked by how fast the time went.
"It went too fast," Toledo said. "It's too bad it's ending already, I could take another two years."
Players Mentioned
