University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Ready For Indoor Tournament
October 22, 2002 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 22, 2002
Sam Paul, the North Carolina men's tennis coach, spoke with TarHeelBlue.com on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the upcoming Omni Hotels ITA Region II Indoor Championships.
The Tar Heels will host the tournament at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Play begins Wednesday, Oct. 23 and extends to Sunday, Oct. 27. Region II includes teams from the South Atlantic region including ACC and Southern Conference schools.
TarHeelBlue.com:
How many teams will participate in this week's tournament?
About 35 teams will participate in this tournament. All of the ACC, Southern Conference, South Carolina from the ACC, VCU and some other teams from Maryland will be here. It is primarily Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia schools.
THB:
How is the level of competition in this tournament?
SP:
This tournament features the best players in the region. There is a selection process to get in so everybody brings their #1 and #2's. This is a qualifying tournament for the Omni National Championships. So, this tournament weeds down to a draw of the best 32 men's players in the country. There are eight regions in the country where this is happening. They take the top two guys from each tournament, which makes 16 competitors, plus 16 at-large bids. So these are the best players in the country.
THB:
Is it an advantage for our players to have the tournament in Chapel Hill?
SP:
We have had the tournament here for a number of years. It is good because we keep our guys in class. Obviously, playing at home is good. It is good for us to get some experience in a tournament playing at home.
THB:
How big is the experience factor with this team?
SP:
Last year we only had two players who automatically made the Main Draw, now we have four players in the Main Draw. We have some experience, which is good, but to be honest we are still working on a lot of different things.
This time of year we typically don't play our best tennis. We are looking forward to April and May that is when we play our best tennis. We are making some adjustments right now in different people's games. We are not focusing on just this tournament because we have some big things we want to do with our team.
THB:
How did you feel about Trystan Meniane and Nicholas Monroe winning the doubles championship at the Midland Collegiate Tennis Championships?
SP:
It was a good win. Both of those guys had a good summer and they are two of our veteran players. It is good to win. It does a lot for their confidence and it was good for them to play together in matches. We are always learning. We are learning and trying to get better on a day-to-day basis. Win or lose we are tying to get better.
THB:
How did you feel last year when you won the ACC Championship?
SP:
It was a lot of fun. We had a fun group because they won and matured so much. Looking back at the Blue/Gray tournament we really didn't play that well, but we eventually turned it around as the season went on. The team worked hard and we were really led by a great senior, Marcio Petrone.
We are going to miss him. He was a tremendous kid who came in and played #1 and went 20-4 at the #1 spot. He was such a leader for the guys and he was very disciplined and worked hard. He was one of the best student-athletes that I've had the opportunity to work with. I'm just really proud of him as an individual. He bought into our program, did what we asked of him and continued to get better. So, I point a lot to his leadership.
We have guys who are filling the void that Marcio left, but we are going to miss him for sure.
