All right folks, the Northeast ITA begins in about twelve hours, so it is time for a preview. Better late than never, right? Last year was one big Heinrich maneuver, so I for one am curious to see if Heinrich can replicate his performance from last year, where he took both the singles and the doubles crown. He is seeded first in both draws (with Ben Foran in doubles), so he is certainly in position for a nice run. The northeast is a region with some weaker teams, so typically the seeds can coast through the first couple of matches. However, with Stevens’ and Skidmore’s depth, and with a couple of nice additions at NYU, I expect a deeper tournament than in years past. Here are my picks for the best first round singles matches:
Matt DeMichael (NYU) vs. Alain Grullon (RPI)
#8 McKinley Grimes (RPI) vs. Yanik Parsch (NYU)
William Persson (Stevens) vs. #9-16 Ian Baranowski (Rochester)
Sam Leeman (Rochester) vs. #9-16 Tristan Wise (RPI)
Let’s get into my preview:
Singles:
The favorites:
#1 Matt Heinrich (Stevens): Any list for favorites in the northeast has to begin with Matt. Heinrich had another excellent year last year, making NCAAs out of the northeast and making the second round. He’s already had a nice start this year, winning his match against Michael Liu from Wesleyan, a great player in his own right.
#2 Kai Yuen Leung (Skidmore): Leung made the round of 16 last year, losing to Pierce Cooper of TCNJ in three sets, but really established himself as a true #1 over the course of the season, beating Heinrich twice in three sets. Making the finals will be tough, but he might be just the guy with the shot to beat Matty Ice.
#4 Pierce Cooper (TCNJ): Cooper flies a little under the radar at times alongside higher ranked regional squads like Skidmore and Stevens, but he can play. He was an excellent #1 last year, making the finals of ITAs, and beating Ben Shapiro (Rochester), Nick Litsky (Vassar), and Heinrich in season. He has a potentially tricky first match against Aaron Mevorach (Rochester), but I like him to get through and have a nice battle with Lucas Pickering (Skidmore) in the round of 16.
The Second Favorites:
I apologize for that awful title. I’m extremely tired at the moment, but I’m dead set on getting this preview out. These are the guys that I wouldn’t pick to win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a deep run.
#5 Nick Litsky (Vassar): Litsky will be playing on his home courts at Vassar, and look for him to come in confident and ready to make a run. Next year was a great one for him, getting to the semis of ITAs (loss to Heinrich in 3), and notching 7 straight wins to end the year.
#6 Kit Sanderson (Skidmore): Kit-Green is a talented guy, and played an excellent #2 behind Leung all year long. After winning the C flight at the Midd Invite last year, he lost in three sets to Litsky in the ITA quarters, but then had a fantastic spring, beating Michael Feldman (Stevens), Rohan Shastri (Williams), and Dan Carpenter (Trinity CT). He has a potentially tricky second round match against Charles Drake (Stevens), but look for him to make a deep run to the quarters (where he would face Heinrich) if he can take out Mr. Drake.
#8 McKinley Grimes / #9-16 Tristan Wise: A couple of Engineers also have a great chance to make a deep run. Wise has the higher upside, though Grimes has more experience. Both guys won a good match at the Midd Invite in the A flight, so they are battle tested and ready to go. Grimes has a tricky match against one of three NYU freshmen in the draw, with Max Swerdlick of Skidmore likely the round after, and Danny Polk (Skidmore) the round after that. Those are three very tough matches but they are all winnable. Wise plays Sam Leeman (Rochester) in the first round, and then looks to be on a collision course to play talented NYU freshman Umberto Setter. More to come on Setter in my “Young Guns” section in about one sentence.
The Young Guns:
#3 Umberto Setter / #9-16 Ben Teoh (NYU): In my end of season Regional Roundup, I talked about NYU’s lack of recruiting class for this year, but then prefaced it with a comment that Coach Choy always seems to bring on talent out of nowhere. Well, this year is no different, as they have a couple of very talented guys in Setter and Teoh who are seeded at ITAs in their first year in d3 tennis, which is impressive in itself. Setter is from Switzerland and Teoh is from Australia, and both guys had nice starts to their college careers at TCNJ, where Setter went undefeated, taking out Pierce Cooper in straight sets. Teoh lost a tight straight-set match to Cooper. Setter is actually a junior transfer from East Tennessee, so he isn’t exactly a young gun, but he is a young gun to the world of d3 tennis, and that’s good enough for me. He’s on the bottom half of the draw, and I truly think he has as good a shot of coming out of that section as Leung, Litsky, Wise, or Ben Foran do. Teoh likely will have a second round match against unseeded Michael Feldman, definitely a tough match.
The Underdogs:
I’m fading fast and need to get into the doubles. There’s a good list of eight or nine unseeded guys who could possibly pull an upset. Here’s a shorter list of those that I legitimately think could make a deep run.
Michael Feldman (Stevens): With his experience, he could definitely take out the freshman Teoh from NYU.
Ben Shapiro (Rochester): Shapiro is down at the bottom of the draw, so he would face Leung in the second round, but he has the game to keep it close.
Charles Drake (Stevens): #MyNameIsCharles. Charlie seems to play every match close, losing only two matches last year in dual matches, both in three sets. That bodes well to his section of the draw, as he’ll have a tough second-round match against Kit Sanderson. I like him against Daniel Cooper of Vassar in the round of 16 though, should he get there.
Predictions:
Semifinals:
#1 Matt Heinrich vs. #9-16 Danny Polk (Stevens): #HeinrichManeuver vs. #ThatsAllPolks. That is my dream come true.
#2 Kai Yuen Leung vs. #3 Umberto Setter
Finals: Matt Heinrich over Kai Yuen Leung. Yup, #1 over #2. I’m boring, I know.
Doubles:
The Favorites:
#1 Matt Heinrich / Ben Foran (Stevens): They won last year. They are the favorites this year.
#2 McKinley Grimes / Sherman Uyeno (RPI): They just won the A flight at the Midd Invite. They are playing well. Doubles is all about momentum, and I’m excited to see if they can keep it up!
#3 Kai Yuen Leung / Nick Tong (Skidmore): Skidmore always plays good doubles, and Nick Tong has nasty hands. They have by far the best shot in the top half of the draw to take out Heinrich / Foran.
The Underdogs:
#5-8 Dan Cooper / Nick Litsky (Vassar): Litsky has nice hands, Cooper has a big lefty game that is good when it’s on, and not so good when it’s off. Look for them to play hard on their home courts.
Pierce Cooper / Billy Buchbinder (TCNJ): The TCNJ duo is coming off a strong weekend in their home tournament. Look for that to carry over.
Danny Polk / Kyle Henry (Stevens)
Prediction:
Leung / Tong (Skidmore) over Grimes / Uyeno (RPI) in the finals.