Widom’s strong play leads men’s tennis

Though the Miami Hurricanes men’s tennis team advanced to NCAA tournament play for the seventh straight year, this time around it was no easy task.
Overall, the ‘Canes had an impressive season, finishing with a 13-8 record after being eliminated by the Florida State Seminoles in the NCAA Regional. The Hurricanes also earned yet another Big East title coming by default, and Miami got there with wins over tough teams such as Notre Dame, TCU, and Rutgers.
Perhaps the Hurricanes could have achieved more though, if not for an abundance of injuries throughout the year. Those injuries forced Head Coach Brian Getz to rely on a limited number of options many times during the season.
“We’ve done it with basically six guys all year, which is very abnormal for college tennis,” Getz said. “Usually teams will have eight or nine guys and with the schedule we’ve had, I think this season was a success.”
In addition, Miami is a young team built for the future and included six freshmen and sophomores. Faced with the injuries and a lack of experience, the ‘Canes turned to the steady of play of sophomore star Todd Widom. With the help of Widom, Miami was able to achieve what it set out to achieve when the season started.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to win the Big East,” Widom said.
Anchoring the team with a 27-9 overall singles record, Widom made certain that Miami reached its objective. The outstanding sophomore had his season end in the NCAA semifinals with a three set loss to the No. 2 player in the country Benedikt Dorsch. Widom earned All-American status for the second consecutive year, but more importantly, he earned the praise of his head coach.
“It was a great run, he was literally inches away from playing for the national title,” Getz said. “I am so proud of Todd, he kept raising his level of play throughout the tournament and proved that he is one of the top five players in the country.”
Though the Hurricanes were done playing tennis before the end of the school year, Widom certainly was not. Widom was named to the ITA-USA All-Star Team, and he and nine other members of the All-Star Team traveled to Japan in June to represent America. A native of Coral Springs, Florida, Widom finished his sophomore campaign ranked 12th nationally.
While the play of Widom certainly set the tone for Miami, the Hurricanes also received solid contribution and senior leadership from Andrew Golub. Golub ended his career as a Hurricane as the No. 2 singles player behind Widom and helped Miami advance in the Big East Tournament with a win against Rutgers. Golub fell short in his final match as a Hurricane with a three-set loss to Florida State’s Romain Jurd.
The Hurricanes ended their season ranked No. 33 in the nation, and with a solid lineup of freshmen and sophomores, Miami should have little trouble reloading and competing for another Big East title next season.