Mired in a seven match losing streak, Peter Richman needed only one ugly victory to snap out of it.
“He kind of won ugly against the guy from Texas,” said men’s tennis head coach Jeff Brown about Richman’s victory over No. 28 Jean Simon of Texas. “The only way you really get out of a slump like that is to actually just win ugly one time. He won ugly, and now he’s got some confidence.”
Richman’s success relies on confidence. He is a winner of two of his last three matches, including Sunday’s victory against No. 65 Karim Benmansour of Kentucky.
On the season Richman is 14-13 overall in singles play. As a Tiger, Richman owns a 33-31 career record and earned 2002 First Team All-Louisiana honors.
Matches have not always been so easy for Richman, according to Brown. During his freshman campaign, Richman played at the No. 2 singles position most of the year and struggled at times.
“He was forced into the No. 2 position, which is tough for a freshman in the SEC,” Brown said. “He had a tough time, but through that he got a lot better. This year the experience has been paying off for him. He just really blossomed at the SEC Indoors, and from there he’s gotten six top-100 wins.”
Richman’s successes this season include victories against No. 28 Simon, Auburn’s No. 10 Rameez Junaid and No. 34 Catalin Gard of Ole Miss. Currently Richman is ranked the No. 38 singles player in the country.
“You try to get him to understand how good of a player he is day in and day out in practice,” Brown said. “A lot of these guys are perfectionists and Peter is for sure. In a match when you see him getting a little nervous, you just try to remind him that he’s playing well and doing a good job.”
Richman is a sophomore from Toronto, Canada, majoring in mass communication. Coach Brown sees a future for Richman in tennis because of his positive attitude and work ethic.
“He enjoys playing tennis,” Brown said. “He never asks for days off, he wants to be out here, he wants to do extra stuff. He wants to do something beyond college in tennis. Peter is a professional in what he does.