By Riley Vance —
Head coach Rodrigo da Silva expressed how excited he is to start the upcoming season in a press conference Sept. 18.
“I think the most challenge is for the guys to get acclimated to me. I’m going to get over there, I’m going to be super energetic, super positive with the guys,” said da Silva. “I think the guys are in a little bit of transition time right now, but they’re super excited.”
“This is an exciting time, just to go to Notre Dame this weekend, spend a lot of time with them – the whole team is going,” said da Silva. “It’s going to be a great time to see them playing, to talk to them, obviously, and then for them to get to know me as well. I’m super excited to be back and to get going.”
Last season, the Cards posted a 16-3 record.
Returning players include seniors Fredrik Moe and Clement Filho and sophomores Alex Wesbrooks, David Mizrahi, Juan Paredes, Marcus Sulen, Sergio Hernandez, and Fabien Salle. New additions to the team include freshmen Randy Wilson, James Bell, Daniel Fainblum, and Matthew Fung, along with junior transfer Tin Chen.
Of the returning players, more than half frequented the lineup in the 2018-19 season.
Hernandez brought in the most singles victories with a record of 17-4. Salle ended the season with the second-best dual match singles record on the team (15-9). Wesbrooks posted a total of 10 dual match doubles wins. Mizrahi registered a 9-8 record in dual match singles.
The newcomers all come from impressive tennis backgrounds and show great promise. Along with the returning players, UofL seems to have a strong team going into the upcoming season.
The Bobby Bayliss Invitational in South Bend, IN ran from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22 and is considered the first tennis tournament of the season. There were upwards of 60 players from 10 teams participating in the tournament.
File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal
