Temple University Athletics
Freshmen Trio Flying High for Men's Tennis
4.21.16 | Men's Tennis
Temple men's tennis freshman Uladzimir Dorash has played well in his freshman year. However, there may not have been a match this season where he showed his development better than the regular season finale against Drexel. After dropping the first set of his third-flight singles match 5-7, he came back to take the second set 6-4 and force a 10-point tiebreaker with Hazma Laleej. While Dorash had previously competed in doubles during the City 6 showdown, his opponent had not. Down 3-6 in the tiebreaker, Dorash dug deep and took seven of the next eight points to win 10-7. His win gave the Owls a 5-2 victory over the Dragons, the team's 20th of the season, closing out a 12-0 record in dual meets at home.
Dorash, along with Artem Kapshuk and Florian Mayer, have arrived at Temple and made an impact in their freshmen season. Each has consistently found a spot on the lineup card during spring play and excelled in their roles. Â All three joined the team from Europe (Dorash is Belorussian, Kapshuk is Ukranian, while Mayer is German) and have transitioned impressive to the collegiate game. Head Coach Steve Mauro had high expectations for the group entering the campaign.
"Coach [Frederika] Girsang and I spent a lot of time recruiting and we knew this was a good group of players. I'm really happy with their work ethic," said Coach Mauro. "They come to practice wanting to play and they enjoy being on the court. I think the combination of their work ethic and love for tennis is definitely helped us and helped our team."
Dorash did note the initial transition from his native Belarus to Philadelphia offered some challenges.
"The first couple months were difficult coming to Europe from here. The culture is different, the people are a little different, obviously the educational system is different," Dorash said after the win over Drexel. "College tennis is different from the tennis I used to play before. That's why it took me some time getting used to it. The beginning of the fall I didn't play that well. Right now I'm playing better, a little tired but I'm gonna feel well during the conference tournament."
Dorash will enter the American Athletic Conference championships with a 22-8 singles record.
 All three freshmen compete in doubles. Dorash and Meyer are actually partners. They've earned a 15-4 record, despite the loss to Drexel. Mayer has gone 12-8 in singles competition but hasn't been satisfied with these results.
"I was not really happy with my performance overall. In doubles, I improved this season. In singles, I didn't play well this season. I struggled," said Mayer.
One aspect of the game that Mayer has found different from Europe is the collegial spirit shown during matches.
"The atmosphere on the court is much louder and of course it's a team. It's different if you play on your own or for a team. It's a lot of fun but it's also different. I have to adjust," said Mayer. Â "In club tennis in Germany they are calmer and more behaved. Here people are crying during the point. It's fun but sometimes it's too much for me."
Kapshuk entered Temple with a top-300 junior ranking by the International Tennis Federation. So far, he has lived up to his billing. Against Drexel, he won in straight sets at the second flight of singles to improve his overall record to 22-6, including 12-1 at second flight. He also won a thrilling third doubles match with senior Santiago Canete to claim the doubles point 7-6 (11).
Coach Mauro believes Kapshuk is the strongest member of the freshman class.
"Artem is capable of playing very high levels of tennis. We knew that going into it. To come here and do it as a freshman, he's surprised us a little bit that he's done so well. He's jumped right into it and had a great season," said Mauro.
The men's tennis team will head to Memphis for the American Athletic Conference Championships as the seventh-seed, where they will face #2 Tulsa on Friday.Â
Â
Players Mentioned
