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NewsvineIf there’s one thing that’s guaranteed, it’s that Jeff Zeller strives to apply what he knows in various contexts. Whether it be while injured, in doubles or in singles matches, the sophomore will take his wisdom and work to develop his game.
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Although the Zeller redshirted in 2006 because of injury, he was still able to observe his teammates in action and apply this knowledge to his own game when he returned to the court.
This year, Zeller has used this experience, and along with senior Eric McKean, has formed a successful doubles pair that draws inspiration from the Bryan brothers (Bob and Mike Bryan — both former Stanford players).
Throughout this season, Zeller has learned to apply doubles tactics in order to improve his singles game, too. These circumstances demonstrate why head coach John Whitlinger will attest to the fact that the Centennial, Colo. native is such a “good student of the game.”
Zeller injured his hand in January of 2006 and took three months off from tennis. Even when Zeller started hitting again in the spring, he was not at 100 percent and, therefore, could not practice with the team. In his first year on The Farm, Zeller was forced into the role of an onlooker and was not able to contribute to the team on the court.
“When I got injured, I took on more of the observer role, but I got to watch my teammates succeed,” Zeller said. “I got to watch [sophomore] Matt [Bruch] get ranked top 5 in the country; I got to watch KC [Corkery] get to the semifinals of NCAAs; I got to watch KC and [then-senior] James Pade play some amazing doubles. I think I really learned a lot from just sitting back and seeing what my teammates did well that allowed them to be successful.
“So this year, when it was my turn to be out there, I was able to implement some of those things that I learned,” Zeller continued. “It wasn’t a complete transition from high school to college, because I had experienced college tennis by watching it. But now, I was more a part of it and actually helping the team with my tennis rather than my cheering.”
Zeller has succeeded in applying what he has learned through observation. The sophomore claims that he emulates the energy and positive attitude of the Bryan brothers on the doubles court, and anyone who has watched Zeller pair up with McKean will attest to that fact.
“Both of these guys will do whatever it takes to be successful,” Whitlinger said. “They’re both energetic, and they’ll do anything to win. They came out during the last three matches and set the tone in doubles. They don’t get down on themselves, and it’s a combination that I envisioned when I put them together. They’re a very tough, figure-out-ways-to-win, do-what-it-takes type of team. It’s what you need at [No.] 3.”
Following a small slump in the fall, Zeller worked to bring his singles game up to speed. He did so by applying doubles tactics to his singles game.
“I was struggling in the fall with my game because I missed a lot of time last year with my injury,” Zeller said. “I kind of lost some of my tactical ability to go out and win matches; I was having a hard time stringing points together to win an entire match.”
Zeller then focused with assistant coach Dave Hodge on a particular aspect of the game that helped the sophomore regain confidence in his singles. Instead of passively allowing the ball to come to him, Zeller started to take balls earlier and adopted a more offensive approach. Instead of waiting for his opponents to make errors, Zeller began to take high, short forehands as approaches and follow them into the net.
“I’ve been confident with my doubles this whole time, but my singles was struggling,” Zeller said. “By trying to get into the net off of [short] balls, [I] took some of the doubles principles and put them into my singles game. For me, that was what made it click, and I started winning points on my terms rather than on my opponents making unforced errors.”
Although Zeller was handed convincing losses when No. 27 Stanford (3-6) traveled to Los Angeles to face No. 11 USC and No. 5 UCLA, the new singles strategies began to take form last weekend against the Arizona schools. On Friday, Zeller posted the Cardinal’s first singles win with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of No. 45 Arizona State’s Murilo Souza. Zeller picked up the first singles win for Stanford on Saturday as well with a 6-0, 6-3 win over his Wildcat opponent, rounding out a perfect 4-0 record in singles and doubles for the weekend.
“He’s just handling the pressure very well,” Whitlinger said. “There are pressures [in the second half of the lineup], and Jeff is handling it great. He is prepared. The guy is prepared all the time, no matter if he’s going to play singles or not. And that’s all you can ask. When he was called upon, he performed, and I’m really proud of him for that.”
Zeller will be called upon this weekend in doubles when the team travels to La Jolla, Calif. to compete in the 118th Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championships. The tournament is open to non-collegiate players, and Stanford will be sending four pairs.
“The names on the trophy are incredible,” Whitlinger said. “It’s a ‘Who’s Who’ of tennis that have won this doubles title. It’s an honor to play there, that’s for sure.
“I like this tournament when it’s going into Dead Week at the end of the quarter, but, unfortunately, it’s not this year,” Whitlinger continued. “We come back to play a very good Florida State team and then a good [California] team. So even though we’re going to go down and enjoy ourselves and play a little doubles, guys know we have some business to take care of when we get back.”