Warren tandem makes most of its opportunity

After a disappointing 1-2 showing at last year's IHSA state tournament, Warren doubles partners Igor Fedorov and Konrad Siczek immediately began to prepare for their senior season.

Their sweat had barely dried when coach Greg Cohen asked them to write down specific areas of their game they could improve. Instead of a pity party, the van ride back set the stage for the most productive of off-seasons.

"Every time I would go by the school in the summer they were playing," Cohen said. "They have a chance to be one of the best doubles teams in Warren history."

So far, their hard work has paid off. Despite playing a tough schedule, the duo was 12-5 through Tuesday heading into the Pitchford "32" Invite today and Saturday.

Cohen has coached countless quality tennis players in his years at Warren. He's also worked with excellent students who gave back to the community. But in Fedorov and Siczek, he has a perfect melding of everything he looks for in Warren athletes.

Seizing the opportunity

Tennis was the farthest thing from Fedorov's mind as he was growing up in Latvia.

"Tennis was basically just for rich people," he said.

When his family moved to the Chicago area when he was in third grade, Fedorov made it a point to make the most of his new opportunities. He quickly learned the language and comported himself with maturity beyond his years.

"It would have been a waste to come to this country and not make education a priority," Fedorov said.

Fedorov had always loved sports. He was introduced to tennis in seventh grade at a camp conducted by Cohen. He quickly developed an aptitude and passion for the game.

After spending parts of his freshman and sophomore years on varsity, he was paired with Siczek for all of last season.

"He's more of a jokester and I'm more serious," Fedorov said. "Put our personalities together and it's a good mix."

Even as he was achieving success on the tennis court, Fedorov never lost focus on academics. He is the No. 3 ranked student in the senior class of 970. He will attend Illinois next year and plans to study engineering.

The only "blemish" on his report card was a B+ in a freshman English class. Cohen is proud of the way Fedorov is serious about tennis while also keeping the sport in its proper perspective.

"He's the best young man that I've worked with during my 27 years of coaching," Cohen said. "I've never heard him make fun of someone who wasn't as bright. He's so comfortable with himself."

'Great outlook on life'

If Siczek is on the tennis court, he's usually smiling and having fun.

"He's got a great outlook on life," Cohen said. "I've known that since the first day he came to a clinic as a sixth-grader. He's always been coachable. You make a suggestion and he does what you want. He plays hard and competes."

Siczek said he became enamored with tennis at Cohen's tennis clinic.

"It was a great mixture of fun and competitiveness," he said.

In addition to tennis, Siczek's other sporting passion is skiing. He was a competitive skier early in high school and he still loves to get out every chance he gets.

Siczek, who mentors middle school students twice a week during lunch hour, will attend Marquette University in the fall. His plan is to study business.

Siczek said he and Fedorov have clicked from the first day.

"He definitely keeps me focused on the court," Siczek said.

Fedorov is impressed with the way Siczek stays aggressive.

"He plays to win," Fedorov said. "He always goes for it, and I really like that."

Preparing to succeed

On that van ride back to Gurnee following the state tournament, Fedorov and Siczek decided they needed to improve their serves and returns of serve. They also wanted to increase their versatility and change up their style of play.

Several times over the summer, they hit with and played doubles matches against No. 1 singles player Denis Bogatov. This was a valuable learning experience.

"He hits the ball so hard that it prepared us for some of the better teams," Fedorov said. "You have to pressure constantly. You can't just hit it over the net."

To hold up better at the end of matches, they also led their teammates in offcourt conditioning sessions.

They were the first doubles team from Warren to qualify for the Midwest Closed Tournament. They were able to qualify in large part because of their improved serving.

"We lost in the first round, but we competed well and it gave us confidence that we could play with the best teams in the Midwest," Fedorov said.

Fedorov and Siczek came close to their biggest victory of the season Tuesday. They enjoyed big leads in the first and second sets, only to fall 7-5, 7-6 (2) to Stevenson's No. 1 doubles team.

"We're coming up a little short," Siczek said. "We're happy with how we're playing but we're not satisfied. There is still more to improve on."

There was not much time to dwell on the loss to Stevenson.

Fedorov had an AP review session to attend, and Siczek went back to Warren to watch the end of the Blue Devils' freshman-sophomore match.

"They have shown tremendous leadership," Cohen said. "I can only recall a couple of players that have led at their level."