Sept. 10, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State men's tennis will enter the fall season at the Louisville Fall Invitational this Friday in Louisville, Ky. The tournament will be held at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center with the first matches beginning at 9 a.m. Head coach Cris James looks to veteran players Michael Hobson and Xavier Riart-Ferrer to lead the Redbirds against competition that, in the past, has been tough.
"For Xavier he needs to continue to work on playing with a freedom in his game that will allow him to raise his level," James said. "For Michael, he needs to continue to prove that he can be a reliable performer from a mental perspective. He shows flashes of brilliance, but he needs to sustain it continuously."
The Redbirds are returning to competition with a pair of newcomers. Transfer student Matej Zlatkovic, from East Tennessee State, and freshman Alexander Palaez joined the team in the offseason and will see their first competition their teammates.
"I think Alex can do well," James said. "He has the talent to beat pretty much anyone who will be in this tournament. Again, we will see how he handles the pressure as this is his first college tournament and his first real tournament in quite some time. I just want him to go and play free for right now and not put additional pressure on him for results at this point."
To help the incoming players, Coach James is looking to junior Filip Miljevic to step up as a leader on-and-off the courts. Miljevic has shown in the past that he has the potential to be the definitive team leader on the team.
"I think Filip continues to lead in practice and I think he will be a leader this weekend," James said. "I am watching closely to see if anyone else will step to the forefront of a leadership role, and I think sometimes it becomes more evident on road trips like this."
Overall, James is excited to see how the players will do this weekend.
"I feel that most of our guys are playing pretty well," James said. "I think it all depends how they handle the pressure of real competition along with a bit of luck."
Schools competing at the tournament in addition to Louisville, include Tennessee, Morehead State, Western Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, Eastern Kentucky, Indiana-Southeast, Lander, and Vincennes.
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