Twos.

That’s the story of Purdue Men’s tennis thus far. Wherever the team goes, the number seems to keep popping up. Whether it’s the record it’s earned (2-2), the amount of players it kept from last year, or even just the emphasis on doubles play, the number just won’t go away.

The Boilers hosted Western Michigan (2-1) on Friday at Schwartz Tennis center, on the back of a 6-1 win the previous Saturday against Portland.

Right away the stakes felt high – both the Boilers losses this season came via one point margins, meaning the point that doubles play left up for grabs couldn’t afford to be missed. Head coach Geoff Young noted his team would have lost without the first-point security blanket the doubles point provided.

“It felt good,” he said after the match.

Nail biters remain an arc in the story of the Boiler’s season, as the 4-3 win marks the third game decided by just 1 point. Fresh faces are another point in this plot, featuring seven new players, five freshmen.

The fresh faces showed promise, particularly freshman Alexander Ekstrand, who, after helping to grab the doubles point with sophomore Aleksa Krivokapic, slapped around his singles foe in their two sets to win by 3 and 4 points, respectively.

This new roster has already tied last season’s win total, in accordance to Young’s expectation.

“We have a different team this year than last year,” he said. “Totally different. Only two people remain on the team from last year, so with that I have higher expectations than I did last year.”

One of the two that remain is sophomore Mujtaba Ali-Khan. Ali-Khan’s season started with two tough losses followed by a pair of wins, in accordance with his team’s results. Ali-Khan articulated the mindset he carried into the match.

“You can look at it both ways: either let the pressure get to you because you just lost two matches, or just start fresh to new sets and keep your mind focused on those,” he said. “Stay in the present.”

Despite being on a roster of foreign faces, Ali-Khan played his latest match in front of familiar ones, with his brother, father and even his kinesiology professor in attendance.

The sophomore leapt to a 6-0 win in his first set, before facing more resistance in the second, an obstacle he attributed to a mixture of his letting off the gas and the opponent amping it up.

“Geoff (Young) told me, ‘You gotta try to be more aggressive with your forehand,’ and he started raising his level,” Ali-Khan said. “That’s what made it close, but I tried to just stay the course.”

It was a back-and-forth affair until Ali-Khan finally took it down 7-5, winning the match in front of father and teacher. The Hinsdale, Illinois native emphasized the importance of remaining grounded in his matches, keeping his mind on the now.

“I know I lost two matches before today, but if I focused on the last two, that wouldn’t help me today,” he said. “So a big part is just staying in the present not the future, or the past, that mindset helped me point-by-point to pump myself up.”

Helping to keep the team as a whole grounded alongside Ali-Khan is the other returnee, redshirt junior Daniel Labrador. Labrador has been sidelined with injury, and is anticipated to return in the coming few weeks.

Labrador acts as a locker room anchor, and Young commented on the security Dan offers the team and the staff.

“It’s good to know that Daniel is talking to the guys,” Young said. “I think he keeps the locker room in the right perspective, and we’re looking forward to having him on the court too.”

Ali-Khan emphasized how helpful it was to have Labrador on the roster in whatever capacity he could be.

“He’s a great leader even when he’s not playing. Once he gets back healthy he’ll help us big time, we all miss him on the court and want him to get back.”

The Boilers will next host the University of Denver (0-0) in Schwartz, Sunday at 10 a.m.