By Steve Knight/editor-in-chief
TCC student Aaron Gomez lost his first men’s tennis singles match Sept. 6, eliminating him from the singles tournament at the 21st edition of the Deaflympics in Taipei, Taiwan, but advanced to the second round in mixed doubles.
Jan Uiterwijk Winkel from the Netherlands defeated Gomez in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Gomez, who won NW Campus’ intramural tennis tournament in 2008, said he was disappointed with his play.
“I felt my showing was a fluke. My body was playing here, but I was so nervous, my mind was far away,” he said on the Deaflympics Web site. “I wish I could have a rematch and show everyone how I really can play better.”
Gomez and his mixed doubles partner, Jennifer Woyahn from Waukesha, Wis., won their first match Sept. 7, defeating Ismail Yilmaz and Asuman Saki from Turkey, 6-2, 6-1.
“I didn’t want to celebrate too much,” he said of his first Deaflympics victory. “It’s only the first round. I’m just glad that we’re still playing and have a chance to win more.”
In the second round Sept. 9, the American duo was eliminated from medal contention, losing to Germany’s Hans Toedter and Verena Fleckenstein, 6-1, 6-0.
The Germans won 12 unanswered points after the Americans captured the first game of the set.
Woyahn said the Germans were “more aggressive after the opening point, and we just made more mistakes. We weren’t consistent with getting our first serves in, so that put pressure on our second serves.”
The German team broke the Americans’ serve every time after the opening point.
More than 3,600 athletes from 97 countries competed in 17 sports at this year’s Deaflympics.
