One thing the Arizona men's tennis team isn't lacking going into today's Pac-10 Championships is confidence.
After one of the most successful seasons in recent memory, the No. 24 Wildcats (14-8, 3-4 Pacific 10 Conference) have every reason to be confident.
"The team is exploding with confidence," said assistant coach Tad Berkowitz. "They feel that we had a good finish to the regular season. This (tournament) came at the right time for us."
The Pac-10 event shifts the gear from a team focus to an individual one, with each Pac-10 school sending four competitors into the main draw, as well as two doubles teams each. There is also an invitational tournament that involves four singles players and two doubles teams.
"Getting a chance to play an individual tournament and getting away from the team format is going to help the guys out a lot," Berkowitz said.
In the main draw, Arizona will send sophomore Roger Matalonga, who moved up in the rankings to No. 84, along with junior Colin O'Grady, senior Whi Kim and sophomore Daniel Andrus.
Matalonga will match up against Daniel Chu of Washington in the first round. Chu defeated O'Grady earlier this season. O'Grady will face Sven Swinnen of Oregon, who also had success against Arizona, beating Matalonga in their lone match of the season.
O'Grady fell to Swinnen in a tournament last year.
"I'm assuming he's gotten better," said O'Grady of his opponent. "I have to be very aggressive and take it to him. I can't let him just sit back and hit shots."
Kim takes on Manuel Kost of Oregon, while Andrus battles Alex Vlaski of Washington.
In the doubles draw, Arizona sends the No. 35 team of Matalonga and O'Grady to take on Johan Berg and Adriano Biasella of Southern California, whom they split with in two meetings this season.
"We're confident because we've already beaten them once," O'Grady said. "It's going to come down to who's ready to play."
Kim and senior Tom Lloyd play Chu and Vlaski of Washington in the other main draw doubles match.
In the invitational round, the Wildcats send junior Paul Warkentin, sophomore Tim Mullane and freshmen Nate Cochrane and Zach Bromberg.
"Paul has a good opportunity to go all the way," Berkowitz said.
Warkentin faces Stanford's Eric McKean in tomorrow's first round.
"At this point, everyone's pretty tired," Warkentin said. "It's been a long year, but that's what I like about the team. We have a lot of fight; we have a lot of guys that want it."
"If I go out there and I'm hitting my backhand, my forehand, my volleys, it doesn't matter who I play," Warkentin said. "Paul Warkentin's opponent doesn't really matter. What matters is how Paul Warkentin strikes the ball."
In the doubles draw, Andrus will partner up with Mullane. The duo has already received a bye into the quarterfinals. The other doubles tandem will likely feature Warkentin and Bromberg.
"Different guys get hot at different times," Berkowitz said. "I think all the guys could do well in the tournament. It depends on who gets hot this week."