The Queen’s Gambit: Men’s tennis impresses against Queens

In search of a third consecutive ASUN championship, the Liberty men’s tennis team opened its 2023 conference season with a dominant win over Queens University at the Indoor Tennis Center last Wednesday. 

After being shut out by Virginia, the No. 1 ranked team in the country, and beating a depleted Tennessee Tech team, the Flames cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Royals to improve to 2-1 on their young season. Throughout the afternoon, occasional cheers were heard echoing across the indoor courts, most hailing from Liberty fans in attendance. These cheers were met with fist pumps from the players, displaying their confidence and focus from the first serve until the last. 

“It’s always important to start off strong,” Liberty senior Josh Wilson said after the match. “It sets the tone for the rest of the ASUN to let them know that we won. It’s always nice to take on an ASUN opponent and clean them up.”

Liberty’s No. 1 pairing of Wilson and senior Christiaan Worst along with their No. 3 pairing of freshman Luis Miguel and junior Deji Thomas-Smith won their respective doubles matches with ease to secure the first point of the afternoon. 

Success did not stop for the Flames going into the singles matchups. Liberty senior Zion Heaven won first, downing his opponent in straight sets while only losing one game. Following Heaven’s victory, the Brazil native Miguel secured his first ASUN victory of his career, winning in straight sets as well. Miguel’s win gave the Flames a 3-0 lead with still four matches unfinished. However, it was not long until Liberty’s No. 3 Thomas-Smith sunk the Royals’ Win Steveker 6-0, 6-1 to secure the clinching point for the Flames. 

Shortly after, Josh Wilson extended the lead to 5-0 after pummeling Queens’ Edoardo Cecere with a 6-1, 6-4 result on court one. Flames’ senior Worst fought for a hard-earned point, beating his opponent in a third set tiebreaker 10-5 to win Liberty its sixth point. The Royals’ lone victory of the afternoon came in the final match, as Edoardo Bottino fought back to edge Liberty senior Beau Pelletier 10-6 in the third set tie breaker on court two. 

As a midweek conference match early in the season, the team made a priority of being mentally prepared as they welcomed the Royals, according to Liberty’s Wilson.

“Just go and compete the hardest,” Wilson said. “Don’t worry about errors, don’t worry about winners, just take it one point at a time. Be prepared mentally … take care of business.”

The competition only grows stronger for Liberty tennis as the team travels to Lexington for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Kickoff  Weekend tournament. The Flames will matchup against No. 5 Kentucky and play either Notre Dame or Washington in the next round, depending on results. 

Liberty’s next home match is not until Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. against Clemson, the beginning of a five-match home stand. The Flames may have won their first ASUN match of the season, but consistency and longevity are key if Wilson and his crew want to play well into May. 

Rivas is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter