Brogan gives up SAP for team

By Chris Furnari

Sophomore Brian Brogan is Santa Clara's newest up-and-coming tennis phenomenon.

Brogan, a Los Gatos native, impressed coaches in his first year as a Bronco and has continued his streak of magnificent play in his second year on the Mission Campus.

Brogan recently competed in the SAP Open pre-qualifying tournament, which began Monday, Feb. 5. The SAP Open, a tournament held at the HP-Pavilion in San Jose, is in its 119th year and boasts previous champions, such as John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick. The "Open" in SAP Open means that anyone could potentially enter the tournament and win.

Brogan had to win five matches over three days in the pre-qualifying tournament. His road to the main qualifying draw was less than normal, however.

Brogan decided to play in the tournament just one night prior to the beginning of the pre-qualifying event, which was held at the Sunnyvale Tennis Center. Brogan had to first take a midterm Monday morning and then head directly to the pre-qualifying tournament.

"The event director pushed my match back so that he could accommodate my schedule," said Brogan. "I took my midterm and then went to play right after."

Brogan swept his matches convincingly, winning 6-0, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-1 to earn a spot in the third round against the tournament's No. 6 seed, Shibu Lal. He then defeated Lal in a two-hour match on Tuesday morning, only to face the No. 2 seed Timour Dick in the quarterfinals.

The match went back and forth with each player winning a set 7-5. Brogan took control in the third set and closed out Dick 6-4 in the third to win the match in three hours and 40 minutes.

"The last match was tough," said Brogan. "I had already played a match that morning that lasted two hours, and then I had to play another grueling match for close to four hours. Even though I was tired in the third set, I made a decision just to take it to him and go for the win."

Brogan then won his semifinal match against Shane Templeman 6-2, 6-4 to solidify his spot in the main qualifying draw. Tournament rules guaranteed each of the pre-qualifying tournament finalists a spot in the main qualifying tournament, so Brogan decided to retire in his final match to save energy for his upcoming matches.

After his two final matches, Brogan visited the trainer for treatment and rejoined his teammates for a trip to Arizona. There, the Broncos squared off against Arizona State and University of Arizona. After dropping their first contest to Arizona State, Brogan had to make a decision.

"I needed to decide if I could even play on Saturday in the qualifying tournament because we still had a match against Arizona," said Brogan.

Brogan made an attempt to set up his match in the SAP Open qualifying tournament to fit with his Santa Clara schedule, but tournament officials could not change the time of his match.

In the end, he decided to stay with his teammates and proved to be an instrumental force in the Broncos win over the Wildcats.

The experience was still beneficial for Brogan, who hopes he will have another opportunity to play in next year's tournament.

"There are a lot of great players that compete in the SAP, and hopefully I can get a chance to play against some of them again," said Brogan.

Brogan and his fellow teammates' recent outstanding play has earned Santa Clara its first national ranking since 2002.

Contact Chris Furnari at (408) 551-1918 or cfurnari@scu.edu.