Thursday, April 26, 2007
Quick, name something exciting you can do this weekend that you can’t do in the Midwest for the rest of the year.
Let’s see, you could watch the NFL Draft and find out who your favorite team selected. Oh wait, it takes 39 hours for the first three teams to pick. You’ll want to throw the TV 40 yards out of the window each time Mel Kiper Jr. mentions a prospect’s 40-yard-dash time.
How about going to see “Disturbia”? Yes, Shia LeBeouf is the best young actor in America, but you can see that anywhere, anytime.
Ah, I got it. Watch world-class tennis. Today through Sunday, the Big 12 Tennis Championships are at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo.
You can’t get this kind of entertainment anywhere near Lawrence for the rest of the year. The professionals play in Cincinnati and Indianapolis later this summer, but that’s a long drive. The Kansas City Explorers also play World Team Tennis, but it’s not as interesting as the Big 12 Championships.
Just look at what they have to offer.
First off, the venue. The Plaza Tennis Center is almost too beautiful to be in Kansas City. Try sitting high above center court and peering at the Italian style buildings and fountains of the Plaza. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel like you were in Florence.
The quality of tennis matches the atmosphere. Baylor is especially a treat to watch.
Yep, that Baylor. The Bears’ men’s basketball and football teams fit better in Letterman jokes, not a major conference. But tennis is a different story. The Bears own the Big 12.
This year Baylor won its sixth men’s conference title in a row. Not an easy task considering how strong the Big 12 is. All six of the other teams that have men’s tennis — Texas, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Nebraska — are ranked in the Fila Collegiate top 75. Being ranked in that poll is equal to being in the AP or USA Today basketball and football polls.
The Baylor women won a share of the title. The Bears are ranked 15th in the nation and join Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma State in the Fila Collegiate Poll.
Baylor might be the toast of the tournament in terms of team strength, but the most exciting player belongs to Oklahoma State. Oleksandr Nedovyesov could be a professional one day. The freshman has been moving up the rankings every week since January to his current spot at 25.
Nedovyesov, who is from Ukraine, plays like the person who’s impossible to buy gifts for: He returns everything. Once he gets his first serve down he’ll be one of the best players in the country.
What about Kansas?
The Jayhawks have had a long season. Really long. In January, they were ranked 59th in the country. Now they are 4-16 and 11th in the Big 12.
A lot of the reason for the sub-par season has to do with Ksenia Bukina. Bukina was All Big 12 last year and Kansas’ first or second-best player. She got injured in her first two matches and hasn’t stepped on a tennis court since.
The loss of Bukina meant the Jayhawks only had six players. It’s tough to do well in team tennis when you only have six players. You see, college games consist of six singles matches and three doubles matches. That means each KU player gets tired playing a doubles match before her singles match. And if one gets injured? She has to forfeit or play through it.
That doesn’t mean Kansas has no chance of advancing against Oklahoma today. The Jayhawks beat the Sooners in doubles and No. 1 singles a week ago. They had the match in the bag. Then Oklahoma came back to break the Kansas players’ hearts with a 4-3 victory. Now each player wants revenge.
I’m not going to guarantee a Kansas win in the first round. But I will guarantee this: You won’t regret it if you go watch tennis at the Plaza this weekend.
Kansan sportswriter Mark Dent can be contacted at mdent@kansan.com.
— Edited by Jyl Unruh
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