Andrew McCarthy couldn’t summarize up Josh Graves’ importance to Northwestern in one interview. After a phone call, the junior felt obliged to follow up with a text message.
“I’m not sure if what I said about Josh on the phone gave him justice,” McCarthy wrote. “I think really highly of him and what he has done for this team is remarkable.”
Although he is just a sophomore, Graves fulfilled a big role for the Wildcats in 2010. After spending most of last year at the four-spot, Graves started this season at No. 1 singles and remained a constant.
“I’m proud of Josh for holding that spot, which is not an easy thing to do,” coach Arvid Swan said. “He can play with pretty much everyone.”
Graves got off to a hot start, winning his first five matches, which included a straight-set victory over No. 62 Saketh Myneni. The win helped NU earn a 4-3 upset over then-No. 18 Alabama.
“That was my first big test,” Graves said. “Even if you’re up a set and 3-0, you still have to battle and win the next three games. No one gives you anything at that level.”
As the opposition intensified, Graves began to struggle. After a perfect January, Graves lost five of his next six matches.
“There’s a lot to work on, but one thing about Josh is he is willing to work,” Swan said. “He puts in the time. He has an understanding of the level where he needs to be.”
On March 27, Graves scored a straight-set upset victory over Notre Dame’s No. 27 Casey Watt. From that point on, Graves was ranked for nearly the rest of the season, climbing as high as No. 84.
The remainder of the campaign proved more difficult for the lefty. Seven of his last nine opponents were ranked, including two top-20 foes.
He ended the year with a 10-13 record at No. 1 singles. Despite having lost five straight games, he still ended as the No. 97 singles player in the country, and Swan believes Graves has the potential to be ranked much higher.
“He’s beaten some very good players this year,” Swan said. “He’ll take another step next year, toward when he graduates being one of the best players in the country.”
By the end of the season, Graves was playing No. 1 doubles with freshman Spencer Wolf as his partner.
The two clicked quickly. After dropping their first match to Michigan State, five consecutive wins earned them the No. 54 ranking in the country.
“I would really like to see that team become a dominant team for us,” Swan said. “I’m pleased we put them together. They held their own at the No. 1 position toward the end of the season.”
Although he is the No. 1 singles and doubles player on the team, Graves is not the official team leader. That role belonged to senior captain Alex Sanborn. While Sanborn was the team’s vocal leader, Graves did his part on the court.
“Josh has led us by going out and playing the best players in the country at No. 1 and by how much he works and improves,” Swan said. “That’s inspirational to our guys.”
Graves demonstrated his leadership qualities off the court. Freshman Chris Jackman considers Graves one of his close friends on the team, and the feelings are mutual.
“These guys are my closest friends off the court,” Graves said. “If they’re going through tough times or anything, I hopefully helped them out a little bit. I can help them with tough situations off and on the court.”
While the season is over, the team’s competitions have not concluded. Upon hearing that Jackman labeled him the best dancer on the team, Graves said he was ready to prove it.
“We’ll have to have a dance-off at some point,” Graves said. “Now that the season is over, we can go all out physically and I’ll look forward to that dance-off with Chris.”
Like McCarthy, Graves wasn’t finished: the sophomore then proceeded to call back to thank all those who made it out to support the Cats.
