True test for women is on singles court

Very few red marks appeared on coach Thomson’s “The Ten Golden Rules of Gopher Doubles” quiz last week. Yesterday, Thomson drilled his players with a second test, “The Ten Golden Rules of Gopher Singles.” The results aren’t back yet, but according to the women, they aren’t going to waste any time in showing that more than likely, they aced it.
Even if the scores are returned without the red ink, however, this week’s competition may show some flaws not seen within the test borders, including singles.
Nevertheless, Coach Thomson and his team welcome No. 44 Marshall to Baseline on Friday and No. 36 Washington on Sunday with a ready-to-go attitude, due in part to last weekend’s success.
“We’ve just got to come out early with a real good intensity and a real good positive spirit. Hopefully that will come from some of our confidence right now,” Thomson said.
The women proved last week’s test performances weren’t a fluke by thrashing doubles opponents from Iowa State, Miami (Ohio), and finally, Carleton. Minnesota won all but one doubles match on the road to securing a sweep of all three teams in their first home series of the season.
“There’s no doubt that our doubles improved as a result of our practice last week. Our doubles was as sharp as it’s been in years. That’s attributable to a more sharp focus on the things we need to be accountable for in each match,” Thomson said.
This week, Thomson is holding his team to performing on an even higher level in the second rotation of matches in singles play. By no means has singles been a problem, but it could be as the Gophers play two other higher ranked teams this weekend. And it will be the results of the matches alone, not the tests that will bring Minnesota satisfaction this weekend.
A deep Gophers men’s tennis team will begin a truly deep seven-match home stand starting this weekend vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday and Southern Methodist on Sunday.
After not sealing some important matches last weekend, head coach Geoff Young will rely on the depth of his roster and the skills each brings. For this, he has high hopes this weekend.
“I think we have a very deep team. “We’re young, but we’re deep. We have other guys that can plug in there and fill in the gaps…” Young said.