ELON, N.C. – After opening the season with a depleted roster and not getting into the win column until its fifth match, it was only natural for the Elon University men's tennis team to be uncertain about how the rest of its season might unfold.
"It was a rough start you could say, it was a run of close losses and tight matches that we didn't end up getting through," sophomore Jack Curtis said.
Now two months removed from a rocky start, the Phoenix has impressively flipped the script of its season and enters the postseason with momentum. On Thursday afternoon, the Phoenix swept the College of Charleston 4-0, improving to 10-3 following the 0-4 start, and finishing undefeated in conference play at 3-0. The win also marked Elon's ninth victory in its last 11 matches.
"It's always a good feeling to clinch, to win the last match," said junior Veljko Krstic who delivered the final blow to the Cougars at the No. 1 singles position.
"Charleston brought out good energy, had good players," Krstic added. "But we hung in there, played our own game, and the result says it all."
Krstic's win marked his sixth straight win in singles. The junior's high level of play was rewarded by the conference several weeks ago, as he was named CAA Co-Player of the Week on April 1. While Krstic takes pride in his many individual accomplishments, he emphasized the importance of Elon's team success.
"Credit to everyone, each point is as important as the other one, no matter if you play court one [or] court six," Krstic said.
"It's always nice to have those accomplishments individually, but our main goal as individuals is to work together, we have the same goal of winning the conference, hopefully going to the NCAA [Tournament]. It's good to have those [individual accomplishments] but overall, the most important thing for us is to win as a collective, not individual," Krstic added.
Elon capitalized on early momentum from its gritty doubles point victory, clinched thanks to a hard-fought performance from the doubles pairing of Curtis and freshman sensation Rafael Ymer.
Curtis and Ymer fought hard in a tiebreak and ultimately clinched the doubles point for the Phoenix, 7-6 (6-1). The duo has rattled off five straight doubles wins. Curtis explained that he has been fortunate to find such success and chemistry so quickly with his first-year doubles partner.
"He's been a big influence [on] this team, I feel lucky to be able to play doubles with him," Curtis said of Ymer. "Especially with him coming in late, being able to become a new pairing, and for us to be this successful, means a lot to the team."
With the CAA Championship less than a week away, Krstic and Curtis are ready to exorcise the program's recent postseason demons – having lost in the title match three years in row – and take home Elon's first CAA title since the 2019 season.
"We didn't get the result we wanted the past two years since I've been here, but yeah, we're just going to play our own game, see where it takes us," Krstic said.
With the CAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships hosted at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center from April 25-27, Krstic and Curtis are both confident a home court advantage could be key in the Phoenix bringing home some new hardware.
"It helps that we're hosting, hopefully the atmosphere is going to be on point, and that helps us always," Krstic said.
"This year, we're at home, we have the crowd to ourselves, so I believe good things are going to happen this year," Curtis added.
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
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