By Pritish Behuria
The Daily Northwestern
Trial and error.
That’s how head coach Paul Torricelli has picked his doubles teams during his career. And that’s how he found this year’s standout duo of seniors Matt Christian and Willy Lock.
“We hadn’t anticipated them playing together initially,” Torricelli said. “But they clicked and we gave them a shot at the All-American championships and they did a nice job.”
The duo first played together in the qualifying round of the ITA All-American championships, held last October.
They won three matches and qualified for the main draw. Once in the main draw, they won their first match and qualified for the round of 16. In a close match, Lock and Christian eventually lost 9-7 to Georgia’s John Isner and Luis Flores, who were the top-ranked team in the nation.
“It was an amazing performance,” senior Christian Tempke said. “We were at a disadvantage already since we start six weeks after all the other schools and their performance was really unexpected.”
Lock and Christian continued their good form later that month, reaching the round of 16 in the ITA Midwest Regional championships.
Torricelli said he was impressed with the start they had as a doubles pairing.
“They have different styles of play,” he said. “Matt’s a big server, and he’s very aggressive on court, while Willy’s really good at the net and a strong baseliner.”
The dual season started with Lock and Christian playing at No. 1 doubles.
They have faced four of the top ten duos in the country and have an 8-9 dual-season record. Performances like last month’s win against then-No. 23 Nolan Polley and Moritz Baumann of Wisconsin have ensured a national ranking of 54 for Lock and Christian.
“We’ve been playing alright,” Christian said. “We try to win every week and have played some really good teams and had some close matches.”
Both Christian and Lock have been successful doubles players for the Wildcats during their careers.
For most of his career, Christian partnered with Adam Schaechterle, who graduated last year.
The duo reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional championships in 2004, and last year they beat eventual national champions Kevin Anderson and G.D. Rowe of Illinois.
Over his NU career, Lock has had a number of doubles partners. Last year, he played alongside Tempke and they had moderate success, with three straight victories in April.
“In doubles, you always have to compliment each other,” Tempke said. “Me and Willy are the same type of player so it was difficult, but Matt and him have really different games and they’re playing well.”
Lock and Christian are coming off two straight defeats, which have coincided with the Cats losing the doubles point in the last two duals.
Facing No. 2 Ohio State and Indiana this weekend, it will be important for the doubles team to regain their form.
“Right now, we’re just finding a way to win the doubles point,” Torricelli said. “If we weren’t winning the doubles point, there would be a problem, but we’ve been competitive, and it’s always been very close. But with just a few Big Ten matches left, we’ve got to do better.”
Reach Pritish Behuria at [email protected].
