Michigan State University Athletics
Q&A With Men's Tennis Player Eric Simonton
4/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 19, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
You're coming to the end of your senior season. Do you feel some added pressure now that your eligibility is about to wrap up?
"I don't think so because the goal is to always win. If we win, we'll get what we've been looking for out of the season. If we don't, we're not going to and it's going to be disappointing."
Originally, what were your main reasons for coming to Michigan State from your hometown of Annandale, N.J.?
"I mainly came here because I liked the campus and what the school had to offer. I liked the big-time atmosphere of the sports here as well."
When you look back at yourself as an incoming freshman, what was going through your mind before you even stepped on the courts?
"I was always really, really nervous. I always thought that if I would lose, the team would lose. My freshman year, I thought if I lose, I wouldn't play the next day because we had 12 guys on the team. We were all pretty young and Coach (Gene Orlando) could have tossed anybody in there so it was more of survival to try and stay in the lineup.
You played up at No. 1 early in your career. Do you think that helped you get better or did that hurt you?
"It might have hurt me a little bit my freshman year because I wasn't used to all of the pressure. I don't think I was up to that level of competition every single day. I got blown out of the water a bunch of times. Looking back on it, I think it has helped me during my last three years because now I can say I've been in some pretty big pressure matches. I've played No. 1 before and now that I play No. 4, I know I can play at a certain level."
Do you think your game has matured since then?
"I think I'm smarter on the court now than I was before. I definitely think through the points more and play smarter tennis on a daily basis."
What does it mean to be a captain for a team like this?
"I first thought it was going to be easy but it certainly isn't. There's a lot more to it than most people realize. It's a big honor. To say you've played a Big Ten sport is something people recognize but to say you've been a captain for a Big Ten sport is something greater and only a couple people every year can say they have done it."
How have you been approaching each match this year?
"I kind of approach them all the same way. I really only think about what I want to do on the court and not much else. This year has been more difficult because in previous years you can say if you lose to them you can get them back the next year. But I won't have a shot at anyone anymore and the more I think about it the more difficult it gets. But I try not to think about that because this is fun, just going out and playing. You have to take advantage of every time you go out there."
How has the doubles relationship you have with junior Cameron Marshall been working?
"It's been working well. It's nice to play with the same guy each match. Every match we know each other's game in-and-out. It's really been different this year because I haven't ever played with anyone for more than a couple matches at a time. Sometimes we might take each other for granted and expect one another to be in places where we're not. But still over the last two years it's been working out great."
What do you think has been your most memorable moment so far with State?
"It's probably a tie. Winning against Purdue at the Big Ten Championships this year because it was so nice to beat them after we had lost to them a week before, especially since it came in the tournament and we got to move on to the next round. And this year against (then-No. 8) Vanderbilt because we had never beaten someone so highly-ranked before. Everyone went in thinking we could beat them but coming out and saying we really did was great."
You are a Hospitality Business major. What have you learned during your tenure with the school?
"The biggest thing I've learned is that when you're dealing with people, treat them the way you want to be treated. It's such a big key in life that if you get treated poorly at a restaurant or a place like that you're going to look down on it."
Is it going to be kind of different when you play your last few matches outdoors at the Big Ten Championships here in East Lansing since the almost all of the home matches you've played in have been indoors?
"It's always different because it can be a different crowd? Outside you get all of the people that are just walking around and some people who come to all of our indoor matches don't come outside and watch us play because they can't find parking or it's too long of a walk. It is going to be different but it's still going to be fun knowing that to get to my own bed is only a five-minute drive."
What are you going to miss the most when you play your final match?
"I'm probably going to miss competing. I'm kind of tired of practices. There has been a LOT of practicing over the last four years. But just going out there and competing and having fun. Being 5-5 in the first set and not knowing who is going to win it. Stuff like that really gets me going."
