Coach allegedly attacked player

The allegations come less than a week after the Athletic Department announced that Christian has taken a voluntary leave of absence from the program. Players said the April 13 incident was the reason for the leave. And the players said the altercation -- which allegedly occurred early in the morning in the lobby of the Sheraton-Tara Hotel in Newton, Massachusetts -- was only the climax of a dispute that has been simmering between Christian and his players over the past two seasons. According to four players, all who wished to remain anonymous, the incident involving Christian and sophomore John Fruttero stemmed from a scuffle between Fruttero and teammate Mark Freitag the day after the team had suffered a 5-4 defeat at Dartmouth. After the scuffle between the teammates, other team members asked manager Tyrone Buchanan to separate Freitag and Fruttero, who were supposed to stay in the same hotel room. But when the team arrived at the hotel early the next morning, Christian said Freitag and Fruttero would still be rooming together, along with one other player. At that point, according to one team member, Fruttero said sarcastically, "This is going to be a pretty sight." Upon hearing this comment, Christian allegedly jumped at Fruttero, grabbed him by the neck and began shouting obscenities at him. After a few seconds, team members said, Fruttero managed to push Christian away, yelling, "You have no right to touch me." Christian then walked away from the scene and made no further reference to the incident either that night or the next day when the team played at Harvard. The Quakers lost to the Crimson, 8-0. Fruttero has been advised by his attorney not to comment on the incident. Christian did not return numerous phone calls placed to his home over the past five days. But in a prepared statement released by Christian last week, he said, "I have been frustrated with my performance and the performance of the team, both on and off the court, this season. After much soul searching I have come to the conclusion that Pennsylvania Tennis would be best served if I took a temporary leave of absence. I hope this time away will allow us to put these matters in proper perspective." Athletic Director Paul Rubincam, who announced Christian's leave of absence Tuesday, declined to comment on the allegations of any conflict between Christian and the players, either that night or over the past two seasons. "I really don't have much to say," Rubincam said last week. "Virgil requested to leave. It's been a long, frustrating season for him." "I don't think the leave was for any one incident," he added. "He's just been struggling with some things. Given what's been going on, he's probably doing the right thing." According to team captain Glenn Welling, team members will meet with Rubincam and Associate Athletic Director Denis Elton Cochran-Fikes today to discuss the future of the men's tennis program. During Christian's absence, the team is being led by Physics Professor Howard Brody -- who had been the team's faculty advisor -- and Hunter Lott, a University alumnus. In its first matches since Christian's departure, the team upset Brown and Yale at home Friday and Saturday. Several players attributed the team's improved play to the more relaxed atmosphere under the new coaches. "[Brody and Lott] don't say anything about Virgil, but they've been real good," one player said. "Everybody comes to practice early. They really care about the players." Although Christian's alleged altercation with Fruttero was the first report of a physical attack on a player, several players said that team morale had been declining over the past two seasons under Christian's leadership. Earlier this season, 10 of the team's 12 players signed a letter to the Athletic Department complaining about Christian's coaching effort and demeanor. "There are problems with him all the time," said one player. "He doesn't coach and he doesn't know how to handle people. He plays with the lineup, he plays favorites. It's not only that he's a poor coach . . . it's that he cannot treat people nicely." But team captain Welling, a junior, said the team's performance is not Christian's fault and refuted his teammates' allegations. "I don't think anyone is to blame," Welling said yesterday. "I think a lot of the players have used Coach Christian as a scapegoat for personal problems, either on their own or with their game." "[Fruttero's] general attitude had a lot to do with the incident with coach Christian," he added. "I think he definitely shares an equal part of the blame, unquestionably." But other players said Christian bears the blame for the altercation and for the often hostile atmosphere surrounding the team. "It's not only that he doesn't help us with our strokes, which obviously a coach should, but he's so insincere," another player said. "He doesn't treat us like equals or even like human beings. He doesn't respect himself and no one else respects him." Some players said Christian also lacks structured guidance during practice, especially for freshmen who do not play in matches. "For some of the freshmen who haven't played at all this year, it's sometimes hard to find motivation," one player said. "Not even motivation to play, but motivation for something to work on, so they can improve so they can play next year." The player said he asked Christian to help the freshmen, but said the coach responded, "If they don't want to work, that's their own problem." "He goes to practice to get more of a workout for himself instead of coaching," another player said. But Welling stood by Christian, saying that there may be an outside source causing the tensions, which he would not identify. "I think [the players] have been manipulated through an outside influence in the past month," he said. "All of what's happened in the last month is a direct result of that outside influence. There are a number of good players here and I think it's a shame that they're letting this get out of perspective." Although no one would identify the "outside influence" more than as a "local tennis pro," one player denied Welling's allegations. "He's absolutely wrong," the player said. "There is nobody that's affecting the team. Whatever the team does, the team does because it wants to do it." The team also lost four of its starters last semester, which some players said was because of Christian. According to junior Doug Eden, he and seniors Jason Goldstein and Dan Medvene, and sophomore Alex Schmid, all left the program either for personal reasons or due to pressure from Christian. "If Virgil is gone [next season], we've all agreed that we'll come back to the program next year," Eden said. Players said they hope today's meeting with Rubincam and Cochran-Fikes will help resolve the team's problems, but Welling said the future remains unclear. "In the end, we're either going to come out of this with a stronger team or we're going to lose some people . . . people deciding it's not worth all the trouble they've gone through," he said. "I couldn't venture a guess as to what might happen. I don't think anybody could."

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