Tennis: The Maltese Mike Tyson

The words of Tyson were a rallying cry for the whole tennis team this spring in what proved to be its best season in more than 10 years. The words were perhaps most important, however, for Pecotic, who embraced the aggressive, never-say-die attitude of the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world with open arms.

It was a breakout year for the left-hander. After battling injury and illness for much of last season, Pecotic went undefeated in Ivy League singles play and was subsequently named the Ivy League Player of the Year for men’s tennis.

“It was good that I stayed injury-free throughout the season,” Pecotic said. “I developed a better sense of confidence in my game and knowledge of what I have to do each match. Once I realized what I had to do, it was easy to go out and perfect a shot.”

Pecotic’s consistent performance was critical during Ancient Eight play. In a season in which the team won its first five conference matches by the closest possible score of 4-3, Pecotic could almost always be expected to secure a comfortable win at the top singles spot.

The team struggled with its doubles play throughout the Ivy League season, though, winning the doubles point against only Harvard and Columbia. But Pecotic’s consistency was enough to keep his teammates confident that they could overcome that weakness.

“Even when we didn’t win the doubles point, it was easy to think that the match was actually even at that point,” Siow said. “Since he was pretty much a guaranteed point, we were able to relax more and focus on our own matches.”

“We had a mental edge coming into every match knowing we had the best player out there,” freshman Augie Bloom added.

The Maltesian attributed his reliability to better focus and a better mental game.

“I got much stronger psychologically, which was the biggest improvement,” Pecotic said. “I got quicker, and I got a little bit stronger, but those things don’t change as much from season to season.”

Just as Pecotic gave confidence to his teammates, he also received confidence from them. Pecotic cited the leadership of senior captain Alex Faust and the advice of head coach Glenn Michibata as central factors in the growth of his mental game, and he emphasized the importance of receiving feedback from his teammates.

“If I have a good match and someone on the team tells me, I know I’m doing really well,” Pecotic said. “When we are in that kind of environment, we are bound to succeed.”

Given the mentally demanding nature of tennis, the contagious confidence and Tyson-inspired swagger that the team has cultivated on and off the court has been a critical part of the team’s success in recent seasons.

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The next step for Pecotic will be chasing a national ranking and a spot in the NCAA individual tournament. Generally, players earn national rankings by beating other nationally ranked players, an opportunity that comes perhaps only once a season for leading players in the Ivy League.

“I have to improve on everything,” Pecotic said. “I can get stronger and I can get quicker, and if you think I was motivated to do this once, I’m about 10 times as motivated to do it again.”