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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 8 Thursday, January 31, 2013 MAMEDOV Continued from page 6 Roeland Brateanu. "We like those players that have the desire and the dream of playing after college." Mamedov's ultimate goal is to play tennis professionally, a dream he has had since he was young. He said he doesn't idolize any professional players because he set his goals high and doesn't see the point in not doing so. "If you don't have any ambitions, why play the sport?" he said. "I don't see anybody as looking up to them. Potentially they are all competition. The goal is the number-one spot in the world. Currently, that is [Novak] Djokovic. It was [Roger] Federer for the last io years. I don't know who it is going to be tomorrow, [but I] sure as hell hope it is me." With the confidence that Mamedov has, it might seem like he is fearless. However, he has one major fear. "Injuries. The thing that is going to limit me is my own body," he said. "Mentally, I'm pretty sure I can break through any wall ... Everybody has their own wall. The thing that I'm really afraid of is something happening to me on the court or off the court that will put an end to my dream." Although he is the No. 85 singles player in the nation, Mamedov doesn't pay much attention to his ranking. "The goal for me is the NCAAs, obviously singles and team competitions," he said. "If I get in as number one or the last guy in, that really doesn't matter to me CONOR BARRY/The Daily Utah Chronicle anymore. What matters to me is the win at the end of the day." Since Utah joined the Pac12, the tennis team's competition has gotten much stiffer. The Pac-12 is one of the strongest tennis conferences in the nation. The conference boasts four teams in the Top 25 and two teams in the Top 5. Mamedov and the rest of the team's focus this week is on Air Force, but he said it is a great honor to be in the Pac-12. "Being part of that great tennis world machine — whatever you want to call it — is challenging, but as an athlete you could not ask for anything more than that," he said. Teammate Devin Lane believes Mamedov has the tal- ent to play professionally. "I think he is good enough, if he keeps up working hard during the season and during the summer, I think he could make it," Lane said. Brateanu said so far under Mamedov's leadership, the team has played well. "He can pretty much determine what's going to happen," Brateanu said. "If he's willing to lead, to work hard and show the other guys how it is done, I think we're going to have a very successful season." Mamedov has been described as hardworking from both coaches and fellow players. He said his work ethic wasn't something he had to think about. "The choice is really simple," he said. "If you don't work hard, you end up in a ditch somewhere and people are going to be wiping their feet on you like a doormat." He also gives a lot of credit to both his father and his head coach F.D. Robbins. He said that both are tough individuals. Mamedov said Robbins is often misunderstood as being someone who is nearly impossible to work with. He describes his coach as wanting execution, perfection and by loving what he does. Mamedov continued by talking about his teammates. He said the connections he has built go further than just teammates. "This transcends beyond just tennis relationships because you don't know where you are going to end up tomorrow," he said. "You might go pro and achieve greatness or you might choose a different path and find a job, settle down and get a life. Either way you're getting a great friend. As a friend, that is one of the best things you can possibly ask for in a person, is to know what is going to happen and who you can depend on." Coming from Ukraine, Mamedov promised himself he would move to a place that didn't have any winters. Although he did break that promise, he said he cherishes his time as a Ute. "Utah is a terrific place. I grew to love the city, grew to love the university, love the campus," Mamedov said. "It's definitely an experience that comes once in a lifetime, and I'm really happy that I got to spend my last four years here at the U." c.wallace@ chronicle.utah.edu Twitter: @ConnorRWallace Sign up now CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: • 4/1111111811111r. JONATHAN ROYCE/The Daily Utah Chronicle The Student Media Council is now accepting applications for Station Manger of K-UTE Student Radio. Freshman Breanna Hughes performs on the beam. The Utes remain high in the national rankings in all-around and singleevent scores. GYMNASTICS Continued from page 6 Deals for food, entertain- Contact Jake Sorensen at (801) 581-7540 or jake.sorensen@utah.edu for more information or to obtain an application. ent and everything else students, faculty and staff at theUniversity of Utah. 1 Completed applications are due Thursday, February 28 by 4 pm. nation. Their season-high of 49.325 is only decimal points off the 49.35 Utah put up in last year's national championships and the season is only three meets old. The vault lineup has also been affected by injury, as Kailah Delaney is still working her way back after offseason knee surgery. Her absence brought the total number of empty spots on vault to three. That has opened the door for two of Utah's juniors, Nansy Damianova and Lia Del Go to www.UtahCampusDeals.com and sign up today to get $ 10 in Deal Bucks! Tell us where you want deals from - email ads@utah.edu Student publications are eligible to receive funding from the Student Media Council for the 2012-2013 academic year. Contact Jake Sorensen, Director of Business, at jake.sorensen@utah.edu to receive an application. Completed applications are due Thursday, March 7, 2013 before 4:00 pm. .otPIG 0 444 LS STUDENT MEDIA COUNCIL THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH D-.Rimtr 4 --. 0 Priore, to step into a bigger role on the team. This year, they've had season-highs of 9.825 and 9.85, respectively. The third spot on beam went to another freshman, Taylor Allex. After missing the first meet with a back injury, Allex has stepped in and scored a 9.8 in each of her first two meets. So far, Dabritz has been impressed with where the team is at given all the change. "Everybody's been really good at stepping up on new events — I don't think anybody has let us down at all," Dabritz said. "We've all lived up to expectations that we've had for this year." Damianova and Hughes have both filled spots on bars and each has done well. Damianova has a high of 9.775, whereas Hughes hit her highest mark — 9.85 — in her first meet. There were also two spots to be filled on floor and those were claimed by Lofgren and Wilson. Lofgren has hit a 9.8 in every meet this year and Wilson hit her season-high of 9.825 in last weekend against Arizona. The success that these gymnasts have seen has Megan Marsden excited to see what comes next. "It bodes well for our future [that] we're going to have this exact team back again," she said. "They are handling things well. They had a nice comeback after the first meet that didn't go so well. I think all of that is a positive thing for Utah gymnastics." The Utes will take on Arizona State on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Huntsman Center. m.ellis@chronicle.utah.edu Twitter: @mattellis_utah |
