WINGATE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman men's tennis program will look to start the fall season with a bang as they travel to Wingate, N.C. for the Wingate Invitational Tournament. This tournament will take place for C-N on Saturday, Sept. 11th and Sunday, Sept. 12th.
After wrapping up the spring 2021 season, Carson-Newman finished 7-11 overall, which matches the highest win total since the 2016-17 season when they finished 7-10 with a 5-6 in SAC play. Most notably, the Eagles secured a spot in the 2021 SAC Tennis Championships for the first time in over 11 years, as they made the quarterfinals before losing to Queens (N.C.).
At the conclusion of the season, C-N bid a humble and appreciative farewell to both Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Julian Froehlich (Vienna, Austria). However, the Eagles are lucky enough to have Dabdab return to the program as the new Graduate Assistant for head coach Jim Frederick.
"We finished last year strong and are ready to get back out there starting on Saturday," head coach Jim Frederick said. "The men's team is looking in great shape in all the practices and time together this fall."
The Eagles return junior Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands), senior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan), junior Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands), sophomore Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland), and junior Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) as well as adding on three phenomenal freshmen who will help the Eagles in their quest for another SAC Tournament berth.
Janse held the team-high in singles win after going 13-5, including 11-1, in the spring. His 13 single-season wins allowed Janse to set a new program record for single-season victories as he passed Jonathan Allen's mark of 12 during the 2013 season. Janse also was named SAC Player of the Week for the week of April 5.
Oka went 6-12 in singles last season, mostly playing for C-N as number one singles. He also finished the season 6-11 in doubles alongside Janse and Froehlich as his partners. Waterbolk went 8-10 last season in singles as well as 9-9 in doubles alongside Dabdab. The pair played as C-N's number one doubles pair and went 6-5 against SAC foes last season.
Along with their strong list of returners, head coach Jim Frederick has some talented freshmen joining the program for the 2021-22 season. Frederick has brought on Richard Dulganov, Gjorgji Jankulovski, and Marnix Van Dalen to the team in hopes of making another run for the SAC men's tennis title.
"The three freshmen we have joining our program this year have proved to be great additions along with our returners," Frederick said. "This team will be special and could be make some noise come time for SAC play."
Things get started on Saturday in the "Blue" draw when Marnix van Dalen squares off with Gabriel Constantino at 9:30 a.m. Meanwhile, teammate Marc Janse will see action against Alex Turner to start the fall at 10:00 a.m.
In the "Red" draw, Rintaro Oka starts his fall season with a matchup against Edis Nokic at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. In the "Green" draw, it is Ids Waterbolk making his fall debut against Marco Garofalo at 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
In the "Purple" draw, Richard Dulganov will make his Carson-Newman debut against Mitchell Davies in a match that starts at 1:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Also making his C-N debut will be Lars Hordijk as he faces off with Tyler Juergens at 1:00 p.m. before doing battle with Joseph Phelan at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night.
In doubles, the Eagles see Van Dalen and Oka square off with Elkin, P. and Dekester, P. at 9:00 a.m. Also, C-N will place the pair of Janse and Hordijk against the duo of MacMillian, I. and Winter, S. at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
The final duo taking the courts for C-N in doubles will be Waterbolk and Dulganov facing off with Zabala/Sudar.
Be sure to keep up with Carson-Newman men's tennis across the Eagles' social media platforms.
