Sophomore Joost Hol and junior Brad Erickson were set to take on a top-10 doubles team from Minnesota. A win would help the Northwestern men’s tennis team toward the all-important team point. A team victory over Minnesota would greatly help the Wildcats chances for an NCAA berth.
Even with the stakes set this high, Hol was unaware of the opponents and their ranking.
Hol and Erickson won the doubles match 8-5, but the Cats lost the dual 5-2. And only afterward did Erickson let Hol know who they had just beaten.
“When we won (Hol) said, ‘Were these guys good?'” Erickson said. “I told him they were top 10 in the country, and he said, ‘Wow.’ He was fired up.”
“Joost does not always know who we’re playing. I have to tell him about the opponent. If he knew who we were playing I’d be worried — it would be out of the ordinary for him.”
Playing side by side, Erickson and Hol could not be more different in their approaches to a match. Although he often has to explain strategy and identify players during or even after the match, Erickson said he is fine with Hol’s style.
“I think it’s phenomenal that he doesn’t care,” Erickson said. “It doesn’t matter who they are. He’s just going to go out there and beat them anyway.”
Erickson, however, always does his scouting.
“Brad always knows what the weakness of the other team is,” Hol said. “I don’t know very much about it.”
Even though the two have distinct approaches to tennis, Erickson and Hol have shared in the success this year. They are 17-7 and have scored prestigious victories over high-caliber duos.
The pair advanced to the Penn Classic finals in October and to the ITA regional semifinals in November before losing to Ohio State and Wisconsin, respectively.
Last year, Erickson and Hol played No. 2 doubles with good results. Coach Paul Torricelli said he matched the two up again this year because they work well together.
“Brad and Joost have good chemistry,” Torricelli said. “They just clicked.”
Part of this chemistry is the emotional Erickson firing up the calmer Hol during the matches.
The two play their best tennis when Hol is drilling the opponent back with his serve, setting up Erickson for a quick cross-court step and put-away at the net. Or Erickson is at the net and Joost is smashing back a service return.
Whatever the setup, the two have made a routine of overpowering their opponents.
“We serve bigger than most teams we play against,” Erickson said. “On our service games we go right at the guys and try to keep things down the middle of the court.”
Erickson said he lets Hol do most of the work.
“He’s got money returns,” Erickson said. “He serves huge too. I rely more on what we call cleaning up the trash at the net and volleying in general.”
The short eight-game pro sets that NU plays in dual matches forces Hol and Erickson to concentrate on consistency. The pro-set format has been to the team’s advantage at times.
“Joost and I can beat some extremely good teams in pro sets that we might not be able to beat sustaining it for the whole match,” Erickson said.
When the pair was struggling in March, the opposite held true as they struggled with their service game. This lack of consistency has plagued Hol and Erickson at times.
“We tend to loose games randomly,” Hol said. “We are a streaky team.”
The duo won seven of eight matches to start the season and then faltered during the winter, going 6-4. But three straight victories have re-energized the pair and put them in a spot to contest for postseason play.
Although their styles are different, at least one thing about Hol and Erickson is similar.
“Brad and Joost are clearly playing their best tennis right now,” Torricelli said.
