“I think I played the best all year in the Ivy League season,” Capkovic said. “The match [against Harvard’s Ashwin Kumar] was intense. It pretty much decided player of the year.”
Intense may not be a strong enough word to describe it. The match was decided by an incredible third-set super tiebreak. Capkovic and Kumar each saved several match points, pushing the tiebreak all the way to 17-15, with Capkovic eventually pulling out the win. Kumar was one of two other unanimous first-team selections, the other being Penn’s Jason Pinsky. Unlike Kumar, Pinsky fell to Capkovic in three sets. After Capkovic dropped the first set 4-6, he rebounded to win the next two, 6-4, 6-4, to secure the tough match. Capkovic had to leave it all out on the court to win these two matches, and the wins made him the obvious choice for the League’s highest honor.
A native of Bratislava, Slovakia, Capkovic secured this honor by going 5-2 in the spring Ivy League season, with one of these losses coming against Yale when he was forced to retire due to a back injury after winning the first set. The other loss came the following weekend against Dartmouth because he could not practice during the week in preparation for the match.
Outside of sophomore George Carpeni’s honorable mention, Capkovic was the only Tiger to garner first-team All-Ivy honors. He joins Judson Williams ’02 and Reed Cordish ’96 as the only Princeton men’s tennis players ever to be selected Player of the Year. But Capkovic’s strength as a player goes beyond Ivy play. In a spring season that pitted the Tigers against eight nationally ranked opponents, Capkovic was able to pull out a respectable nine singles wins against some of the nation’s top singles players.
When it comes to his favorite moment of the season, however, his individual wins do not cross his mind.
“My favorite match was the match against Clemson. We won and moved up to No. 50 in the nation, our best ever,” Capkovic said.
Such statements are typical of Capkovic, who has always been a team player first, a quality that excites head coach Glenn Michibata.
“He treats everyone on the team very well,” Michibata said. “He has been captain for the last two years and was just voted captain again. A three-year captain is rare. He has always cared more for the team than the individual stuff.”
Capkovic began his road to Player of the Year at age 6, when he first saw a tennis flyer back in Bratislava, and has been playing ever since. Capkovic knew he wanted to play tennis competitively in college, and Michibata took him on without ever meeting face to face. He has never regretted that decision.
“There were definitely some unknowns,” Michibata said. “I knew he was good, but I did not realize how good of a leader he would be.”
When asked what he hopes for next year, Capkovic’s first response was to win the Ivy League because without injuries, the Tigers should be the clear favorites. He added that he wants to win all of his Ivy League matches, a feat that has eluded him over the past two seasons by just one or two matches.
Michibata, however, has some higher expectations. “If he is healthy and can train properly, there is no reason why he should not repeat [as Player of the Year] next year. I would like to see an impact on the national scene and [have him] compete in the NCAA individual tournament,” Michibata said.
Capkovic hopes to play in a few tournaments this summer, most likely in Europe. The fall season will give Capkovic and the rest of the team the opportunity to train and reload for another shot at the Ivy League title next spring.
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