MEN'S TENNIS: Smith, Taborga take different paths to the top
By JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
They come from two very different backgrounds, one from Bolivia, and the other from Kansas City, Mo., but they enjoy numerous commonalities — and tennis pervades them all.
Seniors Javier Taborga and Casey Smith both started playing tennis at age five.
They both lived in Knott Hall as underclassmen.
They both strive to challenge themselves, with Smith majoring in sociology and pre-professional studies and Taborga studying finance and computer applications, with hopes of law school someday.
They lead the Notre Dame men's tennis team as the No. 1 and No. 2 singles players.
They both want to play professional tennis.
And they both are great friends who still room together off-campus.
Taborga and Smith have much in common, but what is perhaps most important is what they do not have in common.
Using their different talents, Taborga and Smith have moved up to fourth in the national doubles rankings.
"We complement each other very well and we understand each other better than anyone I've played with so far," Taborga said. "We're really good friends. We talk a lot. We're really open and supportive, and in doubles, it's all about trust."
"Our game style has complemented each other very well," Smith said. "Javier is very explosive. He's able to pull us away. He can take over a match. I'm more solid, I play at a pretty high level the whole time. The combination is good, two people that make up for what the other is deficient in."
"They complement each other really well," said fellow senior Aaron Talarico.
Taborga has not always been the No. 1 player for the Irish. Last year, he played at No. 2, while Smith commanded the top position.
Despite their competitive natures though, the change in positions has not brought about fierce rivalry, but rather productive and friendly jesting.
"We are both really competitive," Taborga said. "We both want to play at No. 1. We're not mad at each other though because [Casey] played No. 1 last year and I'm No. 1 this year. At the beginning of the year, we made jokes like, `I'm going to beat you this year.'
"I think we've accepted our roles each year and we've been smart about it. And we're really good friends, so there was never room for that."
"He's a fun personality to be around," Smith said, adding that the two know when to have fun and when to be serious. "We can be pretty sarcastic at times."
The only time Taborga and Smith usually show any signs of a rivalry is during practice.
"We'll play a ground stroke game and we go back and forth to see who has won the most, which by the way I think I have," Smith said. "It's good. I think he pushes me to play at a higher level and I do the same for him."
There was a time though, when Taborga had only himself to rely upon in order to overcome mental hurdles in tennis, as well as the obstacles posed by coming to a new country — namely getting adjusted to American food. During his freshman and sophomore years, he struggled with injuries and a lack of intensity.
"I think I underachieved my freshman and sophomore year and my game wasn't where I wanted it to be," he said. "I was having a lot of trouble improving my game."
During a tournament in Bolivia his junior year though, Taborga made a turnaround.
"At the end of my junior year, I got the opportunity to play with players that are ranked pretty high in the world back home and I thought I was at a level to compete with them," Taborga said. "They just kicked my butt. I realized I wasn't going where I was planning to go and I had to make some changes."
Taborga realized that in order to achieve his dream of becoming a professional player — a dream cultivated on Bolivian tennis courts — he would have to make changes in his life.
"Junior year was a big jump for me," he said. "I turned around many things in my life. I was able to realize that I had been doing a lot of things wrong in general and it was a big, big move towards where I wanted to be."
That transition bloomed during his senior year, as moved up to as high as 11th in the national singles rankings and fourth with Smith in the doubles rankings.
"Finally, my senior year, it all clicked. I don't think too many people expected me to do it," Taborga said. "If you saw the rankings [last] September and you asked people if they would expect Javier Taborga to be top 20 in singles and top five in doubles, I don't think too many would have said, `Yeah.'"
Although he and Smith have had some challenges with regards to their play recently, Taborga is pleased with what he has accomplished during the past year.
"In a way I have compensated for the underachievement I had for two years," he said.
Smith's struggles have arisen from the challenge of combining his rigorous pre-med schedule with playing on a national-caliber tennis team.
In fact, as the Irish travel to Miami for the Big East tournament this weekend, their No. 2 player will also be preparing to take the MCAT exam on Saturday at the University of Miami. He will not be able to participate on Saturday, but will be back to aid Notre Dame on Sunday.
Smith, who won multiple singles and doubles state titles in high school, has not felt overwhelmed, except for a time during his sophomore year.
"It's been a struggle in some sense," he said. "But once you get in the routine it's much easier."
Handling a tough schedule has made him a better tennis player, Smith believes.
"I don't have a lot of time and what time I have I have to maximize it."
A product of an Irish-Catholic family obsessed with Notre Dame, the Kansas City native, given his proclivity to disagree with his family, was not always keen on coming to South Bend.
"I've always been a pain in the butt my whole life," he said. "Since everyone in my family liked Notre Dame, I didn't."
Upon visiting and given the tennis opportunities offered, he changed his mind. Smith, like Taborga, never expected to do so well in doubles, and both give Irish coach Bob Bayliss considerable credit in their increasing prowess on the courts.
"I've learned a lot from coach and from Javier," Smith said. "It's just amazing how much you can pick up in the course of four years. I didn't realize there was that much to learn."
"[Bayliss] demands and expects a lot out of you," Smith said. "It was difficult for me a little earlier in my career because I didn't always understand that what he was saying was best for me. I have grown a lot under him, both as a tennis player and a person."
Both Taborga and Smith intend to play professionally for a few years, and then, if they are successful and if the tennis playing life is fruitful, they will stick with it. If the pros do not prove welcoming to either of these players, they have pretty safe contingency plans.
Smith hopes to attend the medical school at the University of Kansas, located in his hometown, and Taborga plans to go to law school.
Taborga and Smith, through their play and their friendship, have been a critical element of the whole team's successes this season — and in many cases, even when the team does not fare well, the No. 1 and No. 2 players come through with a solid doubles performance. Their leadership has been important to the underclassmen.
"Casey and Javier, as well as [fellow seniors] Talarico and Andrew Laflin have really been the heart of the team," sophomore Matt Scott said. "The four seniors who have been playing have set the standard, showed us how it's done. We really look up to what they've done in doubles this year. Hopefully we can pay them back and win an NCAA championship."
Contact Joe Lindsley at jlindsle@nd.edu.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, April 17, 2002
