INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Nate Edmunds '06 serves up an ace of truth

Author: Tom McCann, Sports Editor

The Campus: So, have you been playing tennis since you were a fetus?

Nate Edmunds: Well, I played a lot of other sports as well. I played soccer, and mostly baseball. I kinda started playing tennis because my brothers started playing so I'd just tag along with them. By the time I got to high school I started to focus mostly on tennis. I liked soccer a lot for a while, but I realized that I was going to be better at tennis, so by the time I got to high school I started to focus on that.

TC: What really drew you to play tennis?

NE: I mean, one of the drawbacks is that it wasn't a team sport, which was something that I really wanted to stay with. That's part of the reason that I liked soccer so much, and baseball - just being part of the team, but I think part of the thing I like about tennis is that when you play it by yourself there's a certain individual aspect to it and you really get to see a lot about yourself on the court. I think you really kinda see who you are and get a strong sense of what you can accomplish - it's all on you. In college it's kinda different because the team aspect has come back, which is nice, but in junior tennis there's no team, it's just you and that has an appeal and a downside. The thing I like about it now is that it's got both - there's an individual part but there's a team part too.

TC: Did you come to Middlebury to play tennis?

NE: Yeah, I wanted to play in college and I wasn't really looking at any D-I schools - I wasn't really being looked at by D-I schools - so I kinda wanted to go to a small school anyway. I looked mostly at NESCAC schools, but I liked Middlebury more. I just thought about it in terms of the fact that if I wasn't playing tennis, I thought I'd like Middlebury anyway. When I visited Williams I liked the school, I liked the guys on the team, but I got the sense that if I went there I wouldn't have been happy. Here I felt like I loved the team part of it, the guys on the team were great and I also thought I would be happy when I wasn't playing sports here.

TC: Do you have a favorite tennis moment so far?

NE: I mean, winning the national championship was a great accomplishment for all of us after all the time and effort we put in - we won as a team when I was a sophomore in 2004. But I mean, looking back there are other moments too, like freshman year we were all a bunch of freshman in the lineup and everything was so new and exciting. Going in and beating Williams my freshman year when they were number one in the country was awesome. I mean, we had never really been a big-time team before that - nationally we had never really done that well, so to beat them was really exciting.

TC: Have you been to the U.S. Open?

NE: I have, it's a blast - I love going.

TC: To play or to watch?

NE: [Laughs] To watch. To play… I wouldn't hold your breath for that one.

TC: If you could knock-up with one tennis player in the world who would it be?

NE: It would probably be Andre Agassi. I just, I love the way he approaches the game and I mean, he's done so much for the sport on and off the court in terms of putting it on the map, and the fact he's still going at 35 is pretty impressive.

TC: Did you model your game after anybody in particular?

NE: I dunno, I mean all the coaches you work with over the years, when I look back, you kinda take something from all of them. I don't think it's any one in particular - I mean, I love how Agassi plays, but I don't think I play quite like him. I dunno, I have players that I really like to watch, but I don't think I try to model myself off of any single person.

TC: Would you say Wimbledon is your favorite movie?

NE: [Laughs] Actually, "The Break" is an even better tennis movie - for all the diehards. That's the one that everyone should watch. It's an 80s tennis movie - it's incredible.

TC: Have you played on clay?

NE: Yeah…

TC: Is it weird?

NE: It's a lot different - I like it - Some people hate it. I mean, in the U.S. there are only one or two tournaments a year for juniors that are on clay so you don't really train that much on it, but teaching-wise, some of the places I've taught at have clay courts so in the summer I'm on it a little bit, but it's definitely a different feel.

TC: How many tennis rackets can you fit in one of those enormous bags, and how many do you need?

NE: You can probably fit eight or nine, but for any match you probably only need a couple. But if you go to a tournament, like over spring break, it's hard to get rackets strung and for a week you may need a lot of them. I mean, for any one day, I don't think you'd need all of them.

TC: And do you notice a difference when your racket isn't strung how you like it?

NE: Yeah, yeah - maybe it's mental, but I think everyone is pretty picky about that. I always feel like I'm probably pretty picky and I think most tennis players are.

TC: Do you have a favorite brand?

NE: I've used Prince rackets for a while - I use a racket that's been discontinued, so they don't make it anymore, but I've used Prince since high school and that's kinda my go-to, I guess.

TC: What do you say to somebody when you shake their hand at the net?

NE: [Laughs] It depends, I mean, it's funny, because a lot of the guys over the last four years we've gotten to know kinda well so a few of them we're pretty good friends with and so it's friendly and it's pretty polite - you'll make a joke or something - but there are other times when if you don't get along with someone, it's sort of a fishy handshake or something. I think for the most part everyone gets along pretty well - at least with the teams we play.

TC: If you're under pressure, do you have a serve that you go to?

NE: My serve isn't that big - I just try to put a high percentage of first serves in. I'm not the kind of guy that likes to put a ton of pressure on my opponent. I like my opponent to feel that they're not going to be able to wear me down. I like to feel that I can outlast my opponent the longer the match goes, and the longer the points go, I usually feel more and more confident because I feel like for the most part I can stay out there longer than most of the other guys.

TC: Do you feel like you're the best player in Middlebury tennis history?

NE: [Laughs] Definitely not. I mean, you just look at our senior class - Waldo, just watching him play, he's so talented. It's pretty impressive to watch how good he is - you can sit and watch and he can make everyone else look silly. I mean, Ari is an unbelievable player. I think as a whole our senior class has helped to take Middlebury to a different level than it was at before, but I don't think any one of us has done that - I think it's definitely been a group effort. We had some leaders, some captains, my first years here who I really don't think we'd have accomplished anything without them here to kind of show us the way, so we've been fortunate to have some good players here.

TC: You won Player of the Year though, right?

NE: NESCAC Player of the Year, yeah. I mean, sophomore year Waldo and I kind of flipped back and forth at number one and number two, and I think that early on in the season I was playing a little bit better, but by the end of the season Waldo was untouchable and he was winning every single match, so in all honesty either one of us could have won it. I think it just happened that I played and won a few more big matches, but this year too, he's really done a phenomenal job. I don't really think of it in terms of any one of us winning anything in particular, but I think the seniors as a whole, all five of us have done more than any one of us individually.

TC: What are your post-Middlebury tennis plans?

NE: I'm going to be stu
dent teaching in the fall and I'm going to be helping out with the tennis program next year too - so, still in Middlebury, but after that probably teaching and coaching. I'm hoping next year I'll be able to figure that out.

TC: What's your favorite section of The Campus?

NE: The sports section - you guys do a great job.

- Tom McCann, Sports Editor