Unknown Speaker 0:00
pleased to be joined today by Gene Orlando, the head coach of the Michigan State University, Men's Tennis program. Welcome to the show, Jean. Well, thanks for having me, Bill, I give us a recap of how the season is going. And in the state of Tennessee at Michigan State University.

Unknown Speaker 0:20
Well, we were fortunate to one to have a season this year and thankful for the big 10 conference and MSU supporting us and we get to play a unbelievable schedule, when you just play the big 10 conference duel matches, it's it's one of the best conferences in the country. And, and I was super excited, just to have that many quality matches and, and yeah, so we're off to a good start. You know, it's been a great improvement, the guys have really come a long way. You know, obviously, the training in the fall and, you know, we weren't able to compete and but we took the challenge, we were just so so excited to be able to be back together in September and train and work together. And we really missed it. And we stay true to each other. And we had no, no COVID cases and just kept our bubble small. But the guys trained so hard, we came back in January, and you know, did the exact same thing, we had five weeks of actually what we call training camp, and it prepared us for our first big 10 matches. And our first match was against Minnesota, who's been a perennial top 14, and we beat them for three with a dramatic win last match on Seven, six and a third. And, and we've had quite a few of those type of matches, where you really have to empty the tank. And you know, it's really hard to bounce back after you do that you have to play the next day or 48 hours later, but now we've had quality wins over Minnesota, Purdue, Iowa, Nebraska, and you know, super excited about the rest of the season coming up and really feel good about where the program is right now we have everyone coming back except for one senior. And the future looks really, really bright. And our big 10 player the week last week was was Nick Williams, he went for an O at two and o and singles at a tempo and doubles at number one, and went to an O at number two singles. And you know, it was it was a great week he clinched the match against Iowa. And so it was, you know, very fitting that he would get he's very hard worker, great students and great representative of a program.

Unknown Speaker 2:29
That's, that's really awesome. And it has been a good season. And I think you'll win, you win the athletic directors were trying to figure out how to how to make sure that every sport had the opportunity to have a season this year. And one of the things that that became apparent was that for for health and safety reasons and to try and eliminate as much of the risk of the pandemic as possible, we try and keep our competition as best we could limited to two big 10 programs, but there are some sports for whom that creates. That creates a real challenge because the big 10 is, is really an elite conference. And so when you look at sports like yours, or or wrestling or volleyball, or this year, men's basketball, you could have five or six, seven big 10 teams that are really very highly national, with high national rankings. And that can that can make it a far more competitive or challenging season than it otherwise might be when you can throw in, you know, a handful of more beatable opponents that that allow you to maybe sort of get your wind back. So so I'm guessing this has been maybe one of the most challenging seasons that you've had in your long career.

Unknown Speaker 3:53
For sure, for sure. And again, we're again we're excited about because we're a young program and you know, we're going to be tested the weekend week out and I think you've improved the most when you're under the fire and obviously there is a balance of winning and losing and controlling you know how much a player might win and might lose and how they respond from those moments is really crucial because you know, if you lose lose and lose and a lot of these guys coming in from you know from high school or they're not used to lose you know, they use some being the top dog but when they come in you know lose on Friday and lose on a Sunday and then all sudden they're losing on a Friday like whoa, and you know tennis is a is a mental sport it's it's a you're an individual in a team sport and you're on your own by yourself and how you respond is crucial and but, you know, obviously we go Jerry and I do try to do our best and the teammates encouraging one another supporting one another and, and the upperclassmen coaching the younger guys up, hey, this is you know how you gotta have short term memory. But yet again, playing in the big 10 conference, there's no other conference like it to be able to compete with the best players, you know, so A lot of the players go on to play pro tennis and, and have success there as well. And but again to play, you know, each weekend with some of the best players and get the best teams in the country it is it's, it's it's fun, it's challenging, and it's nerve racking and you can't wait. You know, if you get to the end that you hope you got the right spot and finish line.

Unknown Speaker 5:18
So Jean, let me shift gears on you and ask you a question about a personal question. You've been engaged in the game of tennis, you know, probably every day for God the last 40 or 50 years of your life. How did you come to tennis? How did you first pick up a racket and discover that this was something that not only were you good at, but did you really enjoy doing?

Unknown Speaker 5:49
Well, I'll be honest, I don't want to take up too much time here. But I was a baseball player basketball player, the traditional sports, you know, back in probably the 70s. And, and my mom and dad both worked. And one day I was dropped off the babysitter's house and I had to go wherever they went. And they were going to tennis. So I got to drive along. And I sat outside the fence, and one of the instructors discounted it and said, Hey, would you like to play? And I said, Wow, yeah, sure. And they put the rack in my hand and I started playing and I looked pretty good, I felt pretty good about it, you know, and, you know, checking out the other people that I was with, I'm pretty good. And it was just a hand eye contact with the other sports. But I really kind of just fell in love right at that moment. And then the next thing you know, I started skipping some baseball practices, and so I can play more tennis and, and next thing I know, I was sitting on the bench at the baseball games, and I said, Okay, I'm just gonna play tennis and, and I just continued to came up through the parks and recreation program in Cincinnati and njcl program and, and my goal was just to hopefully play High School tennis, and that became a reality. And then as I played High School tennis, I started seeing people that we're going to play somewhere in college as well, that would be fun, I'd love to do that. And obviously, a lot of work goes into it. And, and, you know, I had the opportunity to play tennis at Ball State University, and we had a lot of success there. And my coach there, Bill Richards was one of the top coaches in the country and he helped groom me and this ga for a year, and he helped position me to be a coach at Bowling Green State University and openly, I was there for three years and ultimately was able to come here and Michigan State back in 1991.

Unknown Speaker 7:36
So over that period of time tennis has, has evolved in some pretty incredible ways. Yeah, thinking back to a when, when I used to tag along with, with my mom for her tennis lessons. And, you know, you'd have a wooden racket that would be, you know, where you'd have a, a holder that you'd sort of have to tighten the screws and loosen the screws to to make sure that the racket didn't didn't work or or bends and yeah, how has the the evolution of the game changed from your perspective over the decades?

Unknown Speaker 8:18
Well, you know, obviously equipment is is, is been transformational, you know, from graphite, from lubricants to graphite, you know, it's really, you know, added a little more power to the game, I think, I think, you know, physical training back in, you know, the 70s and 80s and even the early 90s training, fitness wasn't really part of the game and I feel like now it's, it's, it's a major part of the game you throw in, you know, the mental side, you know, you have, you know, you have sports psychologists and, you know, now you're having all these different assets being into developing a tennis player before it was not that it was just the athlete learning on his own compete, you know, doing the drills and competing and but now when you have all the training to the, to the fitness and the mental side, and then the development of someone's game, you really kind of you come up with an unbelievable player. So that's really kind of been the biggest changes and I think back in the day, you know, when I grew up, you know, they thought about American tennis was like at its prime, you had Jimmy Connors, you had john McEnroe. And you know, USA was like supposedly was the best and and, and, you know people will always say what what happened what's happened to American tennis me especially on the men's side. The the women's side has been very successful with Serena Williams and the new stars coming up. But I think back in that era, you know, it was who was really fine. It was probably the Australians, it was USA and and, you know, the English and Wimbledon, but the rest of the country really wasn't exposed to tennis and now everyone is exposed to tennis and you got great players come in from everywhere. And now there's this extreme amount of competition. And and I mean, I do think American tennis men's side is going to be, we'll have our champion here sometime soon. But but it's a world now. It's a world it's world tennis and not just a certain pockets of of the world. So

Unknown Speaker 10:19
so so that was you actually anticipated my next question I was thinking about the the you're back to my childhood as you as you mentioned, the Jimmy Connors and in McEnroe and Billie Jean King and Chris avard on the women's side, and how women's tennis with the Williams sisters has sort of continued to evolve. But But it seems like we've had that, that drop off on the men's side in the US. And I actually had a really interesting conversation about this with with our women's golf coach, you say to Stacy Slobodan extol, and trying to understand why it is in women's golf, that so many of the US collegiate players are international. And Stacy explained to me that the that many countries have really put a win win, golf became an Olympic sport, that that many countries put a premium on being competitive in the Olympics. But the problem then becomes that when the or maybe the opportunity for the US becomes that when those when those young people become of college age, they then have opportunities in the United States that they don't have in their home countries to play not only to play competitively, in this case, in golf, but also to get a really great education, at no expense to them, or a little expense to them at the collegiate level, something they couldn't get in the same way in their own country. Is that something that that tennis has experienced? Do you see you have you seen over the last 10 or 20 years more of an influx of international student athletes in in men's tennis collegiately for sure, there's,

Unknown Speaker 12:09
there's quite a few, there's quite a few, probably more than I would like playing college tennis and you know, it's a, it's a hotspot for me, I mean, I believe everyone should have the opportunity to play but you know, coming from try and develop the game attendance in America, I feel like we, we can't miss out on the opportunity to grow the game with within, you know, Michigan, within, you know, the Midwest within our country, because the more players that we give an opportunity to play the game to compete at this level, they will ultimately go on and share the game with many others, you know, some might be attendance pros, some might be just club players. But to me, for us to really grow this game, you know, it's really important to have, you know, American players, and obviously, it's great, I think, you know, if you can mix in and just have, you know, maybe a sprinkle of, of, you know, international players, I think that really kind of gives a great flavor for all the, you know, the players on your team to get an international experience in international experience to get international players to get a, you know, experience of American players, but it might be to a point where there's teams that are that are completely foreign accord, completely International. And, and, you know, and again, it's it's about winning, right, it's about you know, they have to put the best team out there. But, but for our program, you know, obviously we tried to stay within the Michigan, Michigan athletes in the Midwest and and try to develop them and give them the opportunities to be the best they can be. And in a in the international players might bring in a little more experience. Okay, they might be a little more experience because a little bit older, usually and playing for their country. So they get some more opportunities where Michigan kid is born in the Midwest tournaments and growing as they improve and get to play higher level American tournaments, but it just come in with a little more experience. But But I think by the end, we're able as USA players to you know, get the experience by time their junior senior years there, you know, there is competitive with that, that international player coming in, but I think it's it's great it is it is a world sport, like I was saying earlier, it is an international sport. But I think it's important, you know, for college teams to to, you know, give the opportunities to American players to grow this game and and give everyone an opportunity to play the game.

Unknown Speaker 14:41
Your your team has. You've had a strong emphasis on recruiting from mid the Midwest recruiting from the state of Michigan and your tennis is one of those unique sports that is played you can be played both indoors and out. indoors and so do you do you find that there are states or pockets of the country where where you find your better tennis players where the the the high school tennis or a club tennis is, is significantly better? Or because you can play it as easily indoors as outdoors? Is there? In some states, there might be a competitive disadvantage to being a northern state or a southern state? Depending on the sport? Is that? Is that true in tennis? Or? Or can you find good tennis players anywhere?

Unknown Speaker 15:40
Well, I mean, I think nowadays, you can probably find tennis player, good tennis players anywhere, obviously, it comes down to the opportunity to play indoors and have the you know, the coaching available at these facilities. You know, if we go back 2530 years ago, sure, you know, it was the indoor facilities weren't as many. So meaning the pockets of the train down in Florida, Mm hmm. In California, well, being down in the south, where you were able to compete and play outside year round, was definitely advantage. But now with the influx of indoor facilities and great coaches, I think it's kind of, you can really kind of train anywhere and become a player. I mean, obviously, you still have to invest, you know, playing the tournament's and traveling and stuff like that. But nothing's, nothing's cheap. But you still have players that might be living in East Lansing or wherever they might be, but they might train down in an academy down in Florida, they might train an academy in South Carolina, there are premier academies that, you know, kind of attract, you know, some, some better players also attract, you know, players aren't just to make the money. But, but there are there, they're pretty, there are many players that will go to these special academies to train and to, you know, get to play with quality players year in and year out, but, but for the most part, I really feel like it's good to have a home base, to where you can be with family, and train. And then you still might, you know, be able to go away for a long weekend or a week and train at these academies and come back, but I feel like you can't lose that base. If you're an academy for a year, two years, and you need support, you need family, to really do big things. And if you're counting on someone else to be that for you, it's hard to reach your full potential. And I think it's a balance, I think you train wherever you are, where you live. And then if you is your game evolves, then your parents for or coach will start giving you opportunities to have more experiences that will help you develop and your game.

Unknown Speaker 17:53
So talking about playing indoors versus outdoors, do you and do the do the guys on the team have a have a preference? Is it Yes? Or do do some people or is their game more suited towards indoors versus outdoors? Is it or is it all just not really a big difference?

Unknown Speaker 18:15
Well, I mean, it's great question there. But it's great to play outdoors when you've played outdoors for quite a few days in a row. You know, and it's indoors when it's winter time indoor facility here is awesome. The transition from going indoors to outside when you haven't been outside in three or four months. It's very tricky. It's cold, it's windy, there's no leaves in the trees. It's it's just such a different environment. And and you can practice all you want, you can try to play your practice sets. But until you get into a match against someone else and other team, you just need that one or two matches to really make the transition from playing outdoor tennis to you know, from indoor tennis to outdoor tennis. And, you know, that's where a lot of the teams One of the disadvantages you know, is that these teams from the south when we're competing here, we're playing an indoor season like this weekend we played indoors, we're wanting to play outdoors for now for two or three months, or at least two months. And by the time we really get outside. It's almost like tournament time and sweet tournament time where they've already had three months of outdoor play and we're just getting into maybe our third week and we go on the road where they're you know, the next play championships is playing in let's say Athens, Georgia. I mean it could be 90 degrees there you know it could be in it's windy you know it's it's it's just a different you got to acclimate and it's not easy for the for the for the for the mid Midwest in northern schools, but we've had success in Illinois, MIT won the national championship in 2003. Ohio State has made it a finals twice Illinois made itself finals as well. It's been done. Again, it's it's, it's just something that we have to overcome. And it's, again, it's more than mental side and, and everything like that.

Unknown Speaker 20:09
So you've been at this a long time. What are your Do you have a favorite memory or two over the years of your, your your team success or on or off the court?

Unknown Speaker 20:25
Well, I would mean, I would say, I mean, obviously when we qualified for the NCAA tournament, and, you know, we got to have the watch party coaches opened up his, his, his video room, and we had it on TV screen, and we, we were on the bubble, you know, and we was truly bothered wasn't like, we were waiting for our name to be called, we know what's going to happen. And then, you know, when our name was called, and that was pretty cool. So, and then I'll be honest with you, Bill, and it's some of my biggest my best memories is, is being with the team. You know, after they've returned as alumni, celebrating the success, one of the best moments I had, I'll be very honest was, was when we celebrate our 1951 team, when you had your uncle Dave Mills, we recognize the 51 team, they were the first team that won the big 10 championship for men's tennis as well as as the RF like department. And we have a celebration weekend, we brought them out on the on the on the basketball court, at halftime and, and to see their joy and see how touched they were. And being part of that. Those are moments that really stuck out to me the most just just sharing the, you know, being part of the past even though I wasn't there, I felt like I was there. And and you know, and sharing many moments with our past players, and you'll see their successes and, and, you know, everything can win is always great as well, but, but the memories that made him be able to see their successes they move on and other people's success is probably the best moments.

Unknown Speaker 22:07
Now that's one of my favorite trivia questions when I talk to alumni groups is what was the what was Michigan state's first sport to win a big 10 championship? And in the answer, of course, is that 1951 men's tennis team and, as you say, a team that's very close to my heart, my, my uncle Dave Mills was on that team and really a special very wonderful person. And I know that was a great group of guys. And, and very special special history is as part of our program. So so thank you for mentioning that. So how we're finding our way through this, this pandemic, and has it in some sports and feels like it's been a little more challenging. I mean, you take a sport like wrestling where, you know, people are just sort of, you know, they're they're all over each other. I mean, it's, it's, that's what wrestling is. And so, so we've done daily testing and things like that, I would guess that Yeah, in the sport of tennis, where you can, you know, keep people a significant difference. Yeah, a significant distance apart while they're playing. You may be the, the risk relative to your opponent is fairly modest, but, but it's still it still creates its set of challenges, I'm sure.

Unknown Speaker 23:30
You know, one of that was one of our goals was to be to stay COVID free. And, and, you know, we had to be responsible and, and we, you know, obviously, we knew how hard everyone worked, and we didn't want to take that opportunity from some of our teammates, and, and we really stressed and we had some great lead, we said we have great leaders that really stress the importance of keeping our bubble small and, you know, being smart and, and, I mean, obviously, anything can happen at any time. But our guys have done a great job and, you know, sure, it's, it's it hasn't been easy. And we had our we should we had our episode just like every other team, but we weathered the storm and, and, you know, just, you know, try to these, this is a challenge at hand and how we've been respond to this challenge. And, you know, we can't look at it, Oh, woe is us, or, you know, this, we're not gonna be able to play the season or we will be able to play the season. It's just, this is life and, you know, we got to do the right thing and, and do what's best for all of us. And I think the guys have done a really good job and treating it as if, you know, this could be our last match, you know, because we you really don't know, you know, you could be sidelined, you know, or the team could be sidelined. And you know, just treat each each day as as an opportunity to get better and knowing that there's no guarantee for tomorrow and, and, you know, we compete on the weekend. I've been hearing it from the guys when they speak up. Hey guys, this we need to we're leaving it all out there today because you know, hopefully there might Beat them off. There's no guarantee for us. And that's kind of been the model the last two weeks. And you know, we can you guys know something that I don't know. But But, again, just being responsible, and the guys have done a great job and I think we will be better because of the situation that we've been in the last year. Sure. It's tough, you know, living it and being it. But I think once we get past this, we'll look back and say, Well, this is what we did. And this is what we accomplished and are in better because of it.

Unknown Speaker 25:29
Absolutely. Well, thank you very much. I'm joined today by Jean Orlando, the head men's tennis coach here at Michigan State University and best of luck on the rest of your season. Thanks, Bill. Appreciate it.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai