SMU Not Prepared for This--2 Tennis Defeats

They do a lot of things successfully in the football program at Southern Methodist University. Not always legally, according to the NCAA, but often successfully.

It’s the same with the SMU tennis program, minus the NCAA investigations. SMU has three players here for the Volvo Tennis/All-American Championships at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA, a tournament that most collegiate players consider second in importance only to the NCAA finals.

Mustang players John Ross and Richey Reneberg, both All-Americans last season, were seeded No. 2 and No. 3. The other SMU player in singles, Mark Styslinger, was unseeded.

In uncharacteristic SMU fashion, Ross was upset in the first round Thursday, falling to Wille Jansson of Sweden and Northeast Louisiana, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Reneberg won a close match over Roger Smith of Ohio State, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6. Styslinger was eliminated by Luke Jensen of USC, 6-3, 6-1.

So, the Mustangs are down to a single representative, which is not at all like them. They were ranked No. 4 in college tennis a year ago, and are used to better things.

Taking a page from the playbook of that other Dallas football team, the Cowboys, the Mustangs have refined their tennis program, using modern technology and elaborate scouting of opposing players. The use of technology is not novel, but the scouting has often been a match-saving device for SMU players.

The Mustang Bible is actually a battered blue notebook filled with profiles of leading college players, their strengths and weaknesses and tendencies. “We take care of everything for the players, from towels on the court to cups of water,” John Fielding, SMU assistant coach, said. Fielding winced then, realiz- ing how much the philosophy sounds like SMU’s football philosophy. “We want them to graduate, of course. But when they are on the court, all we want them to worry about is hitting the ball.”

Fielding spoke while clutching the scouting book to his chest.

“Basically, we (the coaching staff) watch the matches and write the tendencies or what the guy is likely to do in certain situations--after his serve he hits his next shot down the line, like that,” Fielding said. “Before a match we will sit down with the players and talk about each player. We review what’s in the book. It’s very helpful.”

SMU has had success largely because of its coaching staff--Dennis Ralston, former Davis Cup coach, is the Mustangs’ head coach--but help has come from an unexpected quarter. The team concept is a strong bond at SMU.

“I really like being on a team, especially after juniors,” Reneberg said. “Our team is really close. That’s pretty unusual. We help each other. We support each other.”

Support bordered on distraction Thursday. Ross and Reneberg played their first-round matches on adjacent courts, and Reneberg continually glanced across to check the progress of Ross’ match.

“Sometimes we have to tell Richey to pay more attention to his own match,” Fielding said. “I think the team idea is something the players appreciate. It’s their chance to do this, before they turn pro.”

While Reneberg was sneaking peeks at Ross’s match, Ross was gazing heavenward, praying for answers. A member of the Junior Davis Cup team for two years, Ross is normally a steady, cool player. He wasn’t Wednesday.

“I’m just not playing well,” he said. “I haven’t played well for a while. I hope it’s a slump. I just don’t know what’s wrong.”

Jansson had little to do but watch as Ross grew more and more frustrated with his inability to do what he wanted. The Swede was definitely on his game, staying calm, keeping pressure on his serve.

“I came to the States last spring as a baseline player,” Jansson said. “When I got here, I decided to be a serve-and-volley player. I came here to improve.”

Also improving is another foreign player, Smith--of Ohio State by way of Freeport, Bahamas. Smith, 21, extended Reneberg into a tiebreaker with a powerful serve and excellent court coverage.

In other first-round action Thursday, top-seeded Jim Grabb of Stanford defeated Mike Wolf of Kansas, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Matt Grace of Minnesota upset fourth-seeded Michael Kures of UCLA, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, fifth-seeded Rick Leach of USC defeated Phil Williamson of Columbia, 6-0, 6-2, and Brad Pearce of UCLA defeated Jeff Chambers of North Carolina, 6-4, 6-2.

Second-round action will begin today at 10 a.m., with an evening session at 7:30. The tournament runs through Sunday.