Audra Cohen knows that being No. 1 carries a lot of expectations.
Despite being the first top-ranked freshman in almost four years and the first Northwestern tennis player ever to win a national singles title, Cohen is not fazed.
“It does create a lot of expectations, but hopefully I will be able to build off those,” Cohen said. “There is something about that number next to your name that gets people thinking.”
Cohen aims to maintain her ranking this weekend as the No. 5 Wildcats resume play this weekend at the Wildcat Duals at Combe Tennis Center in the Sports Pavilion and Aquatic Center. The Cats will face off against Wisconsin, Penn State and Illinois-Chicago from today to Sunday.
Expectations are high for the Cats, who boast No. 4 junior Cristelle Grier in addition to Cohen. Grier, who entered the fall as the preseason No. 1, is less concerned about her drop in the rankings than about what lies ahead.
“It was a great goal and a great tribute to how hard I’ve worked and how hard the team has worked,” Grier said. “But it’s always treacherous holding on too much to your ranking.”
While the Duals has no team scoring, it’s a valuable opportunity for the Cats to shake off some rust before opening against DePaul next week.
NU opens play on Friday afternoon in doubles against the Nittany Lions, who had a dominating performance in the Penn State Classic in November against Bowling Green and Akron, but who are looking to improve on last year’s 0-10 conference record. The Cats also meet Penn State in singles on Sunday morning in their last set of matches.
NU begins singles play on Friday night against Illinois-Chicago, which lost to NU in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament and is fresh off its eighth-consecutive Horizon League title. NU faces the Flames in doubles on Saturday afternoon. The Badgers, who are coming off a 2004 season in which they went 6-4 in the Big Ten, face off against the Cats in singles and doubles play on Saturday morning.
Grier and Cohen, who form the nation’s No. 1 doubles team, have pushed NU to its highest ranking in school history and given the defending six-time Big Ten champs a legitimate shot at a national title.
Still, coach Claire Pollard doesn’t foresee a change in how the team will prepare.
“It’s pretty much business as always,” Pollard said. “We’ve always worked with that as a goal in mind. We just haven’t had the personnel. I think it’s a result of all the hard work over the years.”
The addition of Cohen, while bolstering the Cats’ title hopes, has also helped push Grier, while Grier has done likewise for her doubles partner.
“Audra is a fun character,” Grier said. “We learn a lot off each other and we have very good chemistry on and off the court, which is imperative when you play doubles.”
“We have a great understanding of each other’s games,” Cohen said. “She has taught me a lot about tennis and being on a team.”
Grier and Cohen spearhead the 2005 campaign intending to make the ultimate addition to an already crowded trophy case.
“We don’t want to have any regrets in May,” Cohen said. “We work too hard to have that happen. To us, No. 5 is not good enough.”
Reach David Kalan at [email protected].
