Tennis cruises in UNC Invitational

In a low-key home tournament for the North Carolina men’s tennis team, the UNC players who weren’t participating were just as important as the ones on the court.

On Saturday and Sunday, the No. 20 Tar Heels played East Carolina in the UNC Invitational, a round-robin tournament of singles and doubles matches at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

North Carolina senior Kyle Baker and junior Zach Hunter, who each went the whole weekend without losing a set, were the tournament’s two individual flight champions.

The UNC Invitational is essentially a two-day scrimmage independent of the ITA, college tennis’ governing body. As UNC’s last preseason action, the tournament gave several players a final opportunity to showcase their skills before team matches begin.

“We’re looking for both shot selection and how good of shape they’re in,” UNC coach Sam Paul said. “You need a lot of matches to be match-tough, to close out matches.”

Paul also said that despite the Invitational’s casual atmosphere, his players understood its importance to their status on the team.

“They know they’re fighting for a spot in our lineup,” Paul said. “We’ve got a very deep team, so they know. We’ve talked about that. This is real — everything we do is real.”

None of the four nationally ranked Tar Heels participated in the tournament. No. 30 sophomore Jose Hernandez and No. 90 junior Brennan Boyajian were in La Quinta, Calif., for the National Collegiate Tennis Classic, an invitation-only tournament featuring singles and doubles draws.

The two earned spots in each draw — individually in singles and as a doubles team. It was the first time this season they have been paired together for doubles play.

The other two ranked UNC players, junior Joey Burkhardt (No. 58) and senior Stefan Hardy (No. 103), remained in North Carolina but did not participate in the Invitational. Hardy was invited to California with Hernandez and Boyajian, but elected to stay behind and rest.

With Hardy resting, Baker was the sole Tar Heel senior to play in either tournament. After three seasons plagued by injuries, he said he needs to be on the court as much as he can.

“Experience has been a big thing for me,” Baker said. “The more matches I play, the better I get. Just being able to go out there and feel healthy takes a lot of pressure off me. To be able to compete at a high level, I just really enjoy it.”

Junior Cameron Ahari was the lone starter from North Carolina’s 2010 NCAA tournament matches to play in the Invitational. He played most of the 2010 season at the number five flight. The five others —Baker, Hunter, juniors Taylor Meyer and Alex Rafiee, and sophomore William Parker — saw only limited action in team play.

But Ahari said he still couldn’t assume his spot in this season’s lineup was secure.

“We all need to step our game up, because you never know what could happen,” Ahari said. “We all have to be at our best for when the team needs us, for whenever we’re called.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.