Holding Serve with Brian Hung
4/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
After putting together one of most successful fall seasons in recent Michigan history, sophomore Brian Hung has emerged as a leader in both singles and doubles during the 2005 dual match season. Hung holds a 9-5 singles record at Nos. 2 and 3 and has earned victories in six of his last seven matches. He is tied for the team lead in overall singles wins in 2004-05 (15) and leads the squad with an overall doubles record of 14-11 (9-6 dual match record at No. 1). During the fall, Hung defeated five straight opponents en route to the finals at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. In doubles, Hung and classmate Ryan Heller became the first Wolverine tandem to reach the semifinalsat the ITA National Indoor Championships since 1979. In his freshman campaign, Hung led team in overall singles wins (22), dual-match victories (15) and regional wins (17). This past week (March 21-27),Hung was the only Wolverine to go undefeated in both singles and doubles. Hung defeated Michigan State'sMichael Flowers (7-5, 6-4) andNotre Dame'sBrent D'Amico (6-2, 3-6, 6-0), and teamed with Matko Maravic for a pair of doubles victories at No. 1. Hung and Maravic, who have played together for nearly a month,have vaulted themselves into the ITA national doubles rankings at No. 43. While preparing for this weekends Big Ten matches against Minnesota and Iowa, Hung sat down to discuss how he began playing tennis, his adjustment to living in the United States, and his thoughts on the rest of the 2005 season. On how he got started playing tennis ... Onthe level of competitiveness in Hong Kong On his greatest tennis moment On his adjustment to the United States and college life at Michigan On professional tennis players he looked up to while growing up On his biggest influence in life On why he chose to attend Michigan On his thoughtsof this year's team On his greatest tennis moment at Michigan On his doubles success with Matko Maravic ... On whether he prefers singles or doubles ...
"My brother started playing at the tennis center near where we lived. I was three-years-old at the time and I went with him to watch. The rule was you had to be six to enter the beginner class, so I was on the sideline and always pretended to be swinging the tennis racket. The coach saw what I was doing and he let me try out."
"There wasnt much high school tennis. There were only 10 juniors around my age that were competitive. We all trained together at the Hong Kong Tennis Center. I joined the elite training group when I was 14. I started playing international tournaments and ITF tournaments in Europe, Asia, America and all over the world."
"When I was 16, we were representing Hong Kong in the junior Davis Cup. It was an Asia and Oceanic zone-qualifying event,so there were teams from Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The top four teams qualifyfor the World Group. We were the first Hong Kong group to ever qualify for the World Group. That was probably the best moment."
"I went to an international school at home, so language wasnt that bad. I was used to learning English. Being far away from home and from my friends was a big adjustment. Being in a classroom with American kids was hard to adjust to, but my teammates helped me out a lot. If I was a regular student it would have been much harder, but since I had teammates that I practiced and had fun with, it was easier. I was also rooming with Steve Peretz;he helped me out a lot."
"There is a lot of non-competitive tennis in Hong Kong. I had to look overseas for idols. I liked Andre Agassi a lot when I was growing up. In Hong Kong, I looked up to Wayne Wong. He just graduated from UC-Berkeley last year and I wanted to follow in his footsteps and play college tennis in the U.S."
"My parents and my brother. They have always been very supportive of me, especially in tennis. In Hong Kong, a lot of parents wanted kids to just focus on academics. My parents spent a lot of time taking me to tournaments. My brother helped me out with my academics."
"I was looking not only at tennis, but academics.It was hard to visit U.S. schools, being from Hong Kong, so I really took a look at the websites and what I heard from other people. It came down to UC-Berkeley, Duke, Michigan and Notre Dame. I chose Michigan because I would have more opportunities with my academics and athletics."
"I think the team has improved tremendously. Personally, I did well in the fall. At the start of the dual match season I hadnt played as good as I had in the fall. I lost a couple matches which I should have won. I'm starting to pick it up and develop my game a little with the help of the coaches. They have implemented new things with spinning and more conditioning. The team is improving and going in the right direction. I think the rest of the season will go pretty good for us."
"This past fall, I got to the finals of the ITA Midwest Regionals, which is a qualifying event for the ITA National Indoors. Qualifyingfor the National Indoors was my biggest achievement so far."
"We started a playing together about a month ago. We support each other well. He is very good at the baseline and I am good at the net. We create opportunities for each other. We just defeated the sixth-ranked team in the nation. We knew we were pretty good, but we didnt know we were that good. That win really boosted our confidence."
"I like both. I'm pretty well rounded, but I like being in control in singles."
Previous Player Features
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
