2023 Men's & Women's Tennis Preview

MARK MOSCHETTI • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE

When they took the court in January for their 2023 opener against crosstown rival Seattle University, it was more than just the start of a new season for the University of Washington men’s tennis team.

It was the start of a new era.

With coach Matt Anger stepping down last spring after 28 years at the Husky helm, Rahim Esmail stepped up to that spot from his previous role as Associate Head Coach. Esmail served in that associate’s role for the 2021-22 season – and what a season it was, as Washington went all the way to its firstever berth in the Pac-12 Conference finals last spring, and later earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.

That new era gets going with a roster filled by young players: two true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, four sophomores and two juniors.

If early results are any indication, the Huskies are heading in a good direction. They won four of their first five matches before dropping a pair of close ones on the road at Arkansas and Oklahoma State.

Through those first seven contests, sophomore Dzianis Zharyn of Belarus was 6-0 in the No. 2 singles position, and fellow sophomore Cesar Bouchelaghem, who hails from France, was a perfect 7-0 at No. 3. The No. 3 doubles combination of Taiwanese junior Han-Chi Lin and Netherlands native Jim Hendrikx had won five of their seven.

Among the departees from last spring’s highly successful squad is Clement Chidekh, who became the ninth All-American in Washington history and the first Husky ever to be ranked No. 1. He is now playing professionally, and Anger is his personal coach.

Non-conference play continues until late March. The Pac-12 portion of the schedule begins with a pair of home matches, as Utah visits on Sun., March 26, followed by rival Oregon on Sat., April 1.

Afamiliar face guiding the UW is Women’s Head Coach Robin Stephenson, who returns for her ninth year in charge and is looking for a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

But one very familiar face will be missing from the lineup this year. Vanessa Wong, the most successful Husky ever, graduated after racking up a school-record 112 singles victories, she broke the old mark of 111 in the last match of her career, coming against Baylor in the first round of the NCAAs.

That opened up the No. 1 spot on the ladder, and fifth-year player Hikaru Sato has played her way into it, winning five of her first seven. That included a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) victory against Celia-Belle Mohr to give UW the deciding point in a 4-3 upset of No. 9-ranked Vanderbilt in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships tournament on Feb. 11. The Tokyo native went 14-7 last year, playing most of those matches (14) in the No. 4 spot.

Also returning this spring is Sarah-Maude Fortin, a junior from Montreal. Fortin put together a 14-3 record at No. 2 singles last spring and was ranked 120th. She also had a 10-6 doubles record with different partners, but missed the last six matches with an injury. Now back in action and again on the No. 2 rung of the ladder, Fortin built a 5-3 record through eight matches.

Following the ITA team indoor event in February, the Huskies had just three more non-conference matches before getting into Pac-12 action. That begins with a stretch of five straight March home matches, followed by five in a row on the road.