The Stanford men’s tennis team returns to action today after an almost two-month long hiatus. The team’s last match was over Thanksgiving break, when it traveled to Hawaii and earned a comfortable 6-1 victory over the Warriors. The team will get things going again today in Los Angeles at the Sherwood Cup, hoping to get back into the swing of things before the dual season begins next week.

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Sophomore Paul Morrissey finishes his serve. The men’s tennis team has not played since they beat Hawaii two months ago. They will play for the Sherwood Cup this weekend in Los Angeles. #gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/8373
Stanford Daily File Photo

Sophomore Paul Morrissey finishes his serve. The men’s tennis team has not played since they beat Hawaii two months ago. They will play for the Sherwood Cup this weekend in Los Angeles.

“I’m just looking for continued improvement this weekend,” head coach John Whitlinger said. “I want to see how the guys do in match play, in pressure situations. If they get in a tight spot, how will they handle the pressure?”

Stanford is ranked No. 42 in the preseason team rankings, a 19-spot jump from its ranking at the end of last year. The Cardinal also has three players ranked in the ITA top 100 singles, led by two freshmen: Alex Clayton at No. 2 and Ted Kelly at No. 41. Junior Matt Bruch is the other ranked player at No. 96. Stanford’s three ranked players are the most of any team in the Pac-10.

Clayton began his fall career ranked No. 111 but was 10-2 during the fall season, including nine wins against top-100 opponents. Kelly had a great fall season in doubles, winning a tournament while paired with junior Blake Muller and qualifying for Indoor Nationals. He also had some big singles victories in the same tournament, including one over then-No. 14 Pierre Mouillon from Cal.

“It feels really good to be ranked so high being a freshman and not even having the dual season start yet,” Clayton said. “I did very well in the fall tournaments and it’s nice to finally see my ranking go from 111 to 2 in one jump.”

Clayton and Bruch, the returning Pac-10 singles and doubles champion, will not play this weekend. Stanford’s only seeded singles player in the draw is sophomore Richard Wire, at sixth. Kelly and junior Blake Muller are the third seed in doubles.

“This weekend is a good chance to get some more competitive matches under my belt in both singles and doubles,” Kelly said. “It’s a good chance to start the season off on the right foot and set the tone.”

The Sherwood Cup is a three day singles and doubles tournament that will feature many of the best players in the West. The tournament is especially important because starting next week, the first dual matches begin for the Cardinal. And the team’s opening schedule is nothing less than daunting: matches against No. 2 Georgia, No. 23 Tulsa, No. 9 UCLA and No. 6 USC await. The players know the challenges that lay before them and are excited to play these matches so early in the season.

“The goal of [the Sherwood Cup] is to gain confidence and get match play under our belts,” said Muller. “Coach [Whitlinger] wants to see what we can do and if we can play up to our abilities.”

Muller added that this tournament is still just a tune-up for what is ahead.

“[The tournament] will help us prepare for the dual season,” he said. “We want to be a tough team that competes hard.”

The doubles lineups will be composed of the following duos: Muller and Kelly, junior Jeff Zeller and sophomore Paul Morrissey, sophomore Kevin Kaiser and senior Phil Kao, and Wire and freshman Greg Hirshman.

Play begins early today at the Sherwood Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif.