Wilson starts GCU tenure with talent, high hopes

Sunday, January 18

Phoenix, Ariz.

1:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Wichita State

Photo by: Tyler Killgore

1/13/2026 3:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis, Paul Coro

Live Stats MW Network GCU Radio Network Tickets GCU Notes Nevada Notes

Lopes' 3 returnees click with 5 newcomers for MW title goals

By: Paul Coro

When Ross Wilson became the new GCU men's tennis coach last summer, he immediately started getting good indications about the three returnees' self-motivated ways in the offseason.

When a five-man fall roster that added two newcomers got to work, he was impressed by how those Lopes embraced his standards and were excited to practice.

Ross Wiilson

On the eve of the spring season with a Wednesday home doubleheader against Idaho, all those mutual strong feelings about the program's directions have only been strengthened to set an NCAA Tournament goal in GCU's first season as a conference member.

"The guys understand that our goal as a team is to win the Mountain West championship," Wilson said. "We've got to be the best team and best unit together at the end of the season.

"I know what wins in tennis. We're trying to get these guys to cut down on the errors, play high-percentage tennis, use their strength, support each other point to point as a team and understand that we need to be the most competitive team out there. The results are second. I think it's really important to do those things I mentioned. The process is really important. All the good teams that win championships and have great results in men's tennis, they do those things really well."

Wilson has seen that over his past 11 coaching seasons at Notre Dame, where he was associate head coach for four years, and Iowa, where he was head coach for seven years and lifted the program to as high as a No. 20 national ranking.

With GCU, Wilson felt fortunate to have the trio of sophomore Andreas Loaizas, sophomore Diordan Macababbad and senior Brice Patoux returning with commitment.

"We've got a lot of talent with the returning players, for sure," Wilson said. "Right away, they were excited to be coached the way we were coaching them."

Patoux and Jankoski

Patoux, the Frenchman who went 10-7 as GCU's No. 2 singles, teamed with sophomore Daniel Jankoski, a junior college transfer from Australia, for doubles in the fall and made a run to the Mountain West Qualifier doubles championship match. In three tourney wins, they took 28 of 37 games. The pair followed that effort by also reaching the final of the SoCal Intercollegiate by defeating a top-10 duo.

Their strength as a No. 1 doubles team will not allow GCU opponents to use top players at Nos. 2 or 3 doubles.

"They seem to work really well together and get along together off the court, so they'll be able to stick together in tough times," Wilson said. "They both serve well. That's always important in doubles. It gets you a lot of free points. They're able to set up each other at the net for easier volley off of their big serves. They're also can hold the baseline and step into their forehands and take time away, which allows the guy at the net to have a presence and pick off some balls in the middle."

Patoux also has taken leadership of the team, as Loizas also comes back stronger after the Greek player's first college season was limited to 11 matches (7-4 singles) by an injury. He won multiple matches in each fall tournament, including a victory against a USC player.

Andreas Loizas

"Andreas is probably one of our more talented players," Wilson sad. "He's a great ball striker, great athlete, super strong, moves really quickly. He's made some really big jumps in playing with more discipline from the baseline and not going down the line so soon. He's really understanding his game and what his strengths and weaknesses are."

The other newcomer who benefited from playing fall tournaments was freshman Tristan Berard, who needed the transition time from the clay of his French homeland to the hardcourts of U.S. college tennis.

"He made some great adjustments with his footwork and court positioning, and you could see the results at the end of the fall," said Wilson, referring to Berard taking third place at a Pro Tennis Tour event at the end of the fall. "He's come back this spring at least the same level and maybe better."

GCU beings the spring as an eight-man squad after this month's additions of freshman Heremana Courte of New Caledonia, freshman Tim Hohmann of Germany and junior Charlie Pade of Australia.

Their rapid transition is helped by assistant director of sports performance Clarke Cuffman in the weight room, academic coordinator Gabby Mueller in the classroom and Wilson and assistant coach Nic Wiedenhorn on the courts.

The returnees have college experience and the international players have high-level pressure experience to bring to the season's championship goals. The Mountain West offers the challenge of UNLV boasting two 2025 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, Boise State returning most of its regular-season MW tile lineup and New Mexico coming off winning the Mountain West Championship last season.

GCU will learn about its self quickly with four duals in the first five days of the spring season, starting with Wednesday's 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. duals against Idaho at GCU Tennis Facility. The Lopes will return there to face New Mexico State at 1 p.m. Friday and Wichita State at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Home matches will be streamed this season on GCULopes.com and the GCU Lopes app.

"We're going to jump right in," Wilson said. "The best way to make sure we have the best team at the end of the season is to see where we are as a team, where we're good and where we're weak. Let's test ourselves and try to get better in practice and then go do it again in competition. Competition is the only way to improve.

"We're trying to be the most mentally tough team out there. We're trying to play solid tennis every time out there. We're trying to be the most competitive team. If we do that with this type of schedule, I have no doubt that we'll be one of the two or three teams that have a chance to win the Mountain West Championship."