Spring Break
Robin Fahgen leads underdog men's tennis team
Chris Dell, Staff Writer, cdell@smu.edu
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Sports
SMU men's tennis player Robin Fahgen hopes that he and his pack of underdogs have a little more bite than the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggiesmight expect in the first round of the NCAA Championships on May 10 in Waco.
Fahgen has buried eight of his last 11 opponents at No. 2 singles, which has helped the No. 40 Mustangs win 10 of their last 12 matches and earn a berth in the NCAAs for the 11th time in 12 years. Fahgen, a sophomore who will be competing in the NCAAs for the first time in his career, was named Monday to the All-Conference USA First Team.
Fahgen is an underdog himself. He came to SMU from Smedjebacken, Sweden, in fall 2007 and walked on to the team during his freshman year. To the surprise of many, Fahgen immediately saw playing time in the No. 5 singles spot, earning an impressive 16-5 record.
"I guess you'd call me a grinder," said Fahgen. "I'm a pretty good runner, and I get most of my balls back. That makes it kind of annoying for my opponents."
Fahgen was guided to the Hilltop by former Mustang and fellow countryman Johan Brunstrom. Brunstrom graduated in 2004 and was a three-time All-American and a 2001 ITA Indoor Doubles Champion.
Brunstrom compiled quite a laundry list of accomplishments, which included defeating the No. 1 singles player in the country during his senior season, and his young pupil has an impressive catalog of his own. A win in his first match at the NCAAs would be a crowning accomplishment.
"I've never played in the NCAAs, so it's going to be loads of fun," said Fahgen. "Like [Coach Carl Neufeld] has been saying lately, this could be the best team we've had in a while here…We can win for sure."
The Aggies and the Mustangs were familiar foes in the now defunct Southwest Conference, but haven't faced each other in recent memory. The last time the two teams met in the postseason was in 1998. SMU won that match, 4-3.
Fahgen said his team can deliver a repeat performance if it plays the way it did in the last month of the regular season, when it benefited from a healthy roster and beat three teams ranked in the top 35.
Fahgen has buried eight of his last 11 opponents at No. 2 singles, which has helped the No. 40 Mustangs win 10 of their last 12 matches and earn a berth in the NCAAs for the 11th time in 12 years. Fahgen, a sophomore who will be competing in the NCAAs for the first time in his career, was named Monday to the All-Conference USA First Team.
Fahgen is an underdog himself. He came to SMU from Smedjebacken, Sweden, in fall 2007 and walked on to the team during his freshman year. To the surprise of many, Fahgen immediately saw playing time in the No. 5 singles spot, earning an impressive 16-5 record.
"I guess you'd call me a grinder," said Fahgen. "I'm a pretty good runner, and I get most of my balls back. That makes it kind of annoying for my opponents."
Fahgen was guided to the Hilltop by former Mustang and fellow countryman Johan Brunstrom. Brunstrom graduated in 2004 and was a three-time All-American and a 2001 ITA Indoor Doubles Champion.
Brunstrom compiled quite a laundry list of accomplishments, which included defeating the No. 1 singles player in the country during his senior season, and his young pupil has an impressive catalog of his own. A win in his first match at the NCAAs would be a crowning accomplishment.
"I've never played in the NCAAs, so it's going to be loads of fun," said Fahgen. "Like [Coach Carl Neufeld] has been saying lately, this could be the best team we've had in a while here…We can win for sure."
The Aggies and the Mustangs were familiar foes in the now defunct Southwest Conference, but haven't faced each other in recent memory. The last time the two teams met in the postseason was in 1998. SMU won that match, 4-3.
Fahgen said his team can deliver a repeat performance if it plays the way it did in the last month of the regular season, when it benefited from a healthy roster and beat three teams ranked in the top 35.
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