Australia, Serbia, Italy, France.

A year ago, they were scattered around the globe. This weekend, they're trying to help Tennessee survive and advance in the NCAA men's tennis tournament.

"Those guys didn't have a clue about college tennis coming in,'' said UT coach Sam Winterbotham. "They're well versed in it now.''

Those guys are:

J.P. Smith, of Townsville, Australia.

Boris Conkic, of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Matteo Fago, of Ceprano, Italy.

Jeremy Tweedt, of Paris, France.

They're the four freshmen who have teamed up with senior Kaden Hensel and sophomore Davey Sandgren to help UT earn a No. 8 ranking and a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament bracket.

The Vols (21-3) begin play today at Varsity Courts against Southern Conference champion Furman (16-10) at 11 a.m.

Virginia Tech meets Kentucky at 2 p.m. in the other first-round match.

The winners play at 2 p.m. Sunday for a berth in the round of 16 at Tulsa, Okla.

The Vols have beaten all three of their guests during the season and are favored to advance to Tulsa. But just as college tennis was a new experience several months ago, so is the NCAA tournament this weekend.

"That's a good point,'' said Winterbotham, who earned SEC coach of the year honors in his second season at UT. "Chris (Woodruff, associate head coach) and I are trying to explain to them that teams get better between the end of the season and the NCAA tournament.

"They need to be focusing on getting better, because if they're not, they'll be surprised.''

Tennessee's opponents this season have no doubt been surprised by the prowess of the four freshmen.

Smith, ranked No. 25 nationally, was named SEC freshman of the year. He's 26-9 and plays No. 2 singles.

Conkic is No. 93, and has a team-best 27-6 record. He plays No. 3 singles.

Fago had a 14-match winning streak snapped in the SEC tournament semifinals. He plays No. 5 singles.

Tweedt, who plays No. 6 singles, is 24-12.

"Their maturity throughout the year has been at a higher level than you would normally think of a freshman,'' said Winterbotham.

"I would say they exceeded my expectations and I think Chris would say the same thing.

"Now that they've done as well as they have, it's not surprising, now that I've been around them and seen how hard they work.''

Hensel, ranked No. 35, plays No. 1 singles. Sandgren, of Gallatin, Tenn., plays No. 4.

Smith teams with fellow Aussie Hensel to give UT the No. 4-ranked doubles team.

The Field: Furman is No. 69 in the ITA rankings. The Vols beat Furman 7-0 on Jan. 24.

Virginia Tech (15-8) is No. 30. UT claimed a 4-3 win on March 15 at Varsity Courts. The Hokies are led by a pair of All-ACC Spaniards, Albert Larregola and Nicolas Delgado de Robles.

Kentucky (12-15) is No. 37. UT beat the Wildcats twice this year, 7-0 and 6-1.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.