Men’s tennis shows signs of growth amidst missed opportunities
The Notre Dame men’s tennis team was far better than its modest 14-15 overall record might suggest. Playing in a gauntlet Atlantic Coast Conference, which boasts eight teams in the top 25, four in the top 10 and three in the top five, including No. 1 overall Wake Forest, the Irish sputtered to a 1-12 record. However, the vast majority of those losses were down-to-the-wire battles with the best teams in the nation.
Before beginning their challenging conference slate, Notre Dame went 10-2 in 12 non-conference contests to start the season. The run included a win over No. 71 Yale, a 7-0 drubbing of No. 67 Wisconsin and several more lopsided victories, winning the 10 matches by a combined score of 58-8.
ACC play, which began in late February, proved to be a different beast. The Irish lost their first nine conference matches, a stretch that was broken up by only one non-conference win. Despite the results, head coach Ryan Sachire’s group never stopped competing.
“The fact that we did have a number of disappointing setbacks, that can wear on guys, that can wear on a team,” Sachire said. “Their ability to respond to a tough result … the resiliency and the grit and the fight and the pride was awesome. That’s certainly something that speaks to their competitive character and the way that we do things.”
On several occasions, the Irish were able to push elite opponents to the brink, even after enduring a loss only days before. After losing to No. 17 Duke on March 11, they turned around two days later to give everything North Carolina could handle, ultimately falling just short in the 4-3 defeat. Their following weekend was just as hard-fought against even better competition in No. 5 Stanford and No. 11 California. On the West Coast trip, Notre Dame picked itself up after a 4-1 loss to the Cardinal and took three points off the Golden Bears. If two opponents ranked in the top 11 weren’t difficult enough already, they ran into No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 8 NC State a week later. The Irish handed the Demon Deacons their first doubles loss of the season, despite dropping the match 4-2. Two days later, they once again came within a point of victory against the Wolfpack, but rounded out the grueling weekend with a 7-0 sweep of St. Bonaventure.
Next weekend’s slate opened up with, at the time, a third consecutive top-5 matchup against Virginia. After losing another 4-3 heartbreaker, Notre Dame finally captured its first ACC win with a 4-0 sweep of No. 74 Virginia Tech before finishing Sunday’s Senior Day celebrations with a 7-0 sweep of Southern Indiana.
The winning run would prove short-lived, however, as the Irish rounded out the regular season 0-3, yet again coming within a point in the finale against Louisville. That final match was a microcosm of a season defined by missed opportunities. They were able to edge Miami in the first round of the ACC Tournament but saw their season end after bowing out against Duke in round two.
“Obviously, we’ve got to find a way to capitalize on opportunities better next year,” Sachire said. “My hope is that comes with maturity.”
Starting two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior on the top-six singles courts, finding success comes with a learning curve. Throughout the season, however, the young core showcased immense potential, from the undefeated doubles record of freshman pairing Luis Llorens and Peter Nad to the stellar play of sophomore Chase Thompson at the top of both the doubles and singles lineups.
“We look at that as investing in those guys,” Sachire said. “Taking the experience that they had, learning from it, growing from it and then coming back next year and being better because of it.”
After a dominant season at No. 1 singles, junior Sebastian Dominko is the brightest spot in this team’s exciting future. The Slovenian lefty earned ACC Player of the Year honors after going 19-4 in dual matches. He also paced the team in doubles wins, playing with several different partners on the No. 1 court all season.
“I started playing my best tennis when it mattered most,” Dominko said. “Comparing to the first two years and also even the fall, I went into this season with a different mindset, and it was a better one.”
With Dominko headlining a strong nucleus of returning players, Notre Dame has the potential to take a meaningful step forward next season. Should it do so, this season’s results will be a big reason why.
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