He did real well in baseball. During the summer of his freshman year, we went out and played some tennis together and he liked it well enough to try out for the team.

He coached women's tennis at Penn State and knows the tennis scene real well.

Most tennis players, especially those in foreign countries, start play at a much younger age. That can be a huge advantage and also a disadvantage. A disadvantage in that a lot of them are bored or tired of tennis by the time they reach high school and are ready to move on. Not Eric. He's as enthusiastic a player as you'll find.

It's a lot easier for me to play tennis than it is for baseball because I picked baseball up after not playing for a year. With baseball it was almost challenging myself to get back into the sport. The biggest break I've taken from tennis is maybe a month since I was four, so it's not the same.

I never thought I could get a state title in baseball and somehow not get one in tennis. After the season ended, I thought, heck I'll end my baseball career with a state championship and go back to tennis and see if I can duplicate that.

We do not see a pattern; it's not like there's one injury befalling tennis players like, say, ankle injuries, ... to continue to improve the schedule to allow for appropriate rest.