Singles
#3 Adam “Thank God Pottish is Gone” Putterman (Wash U) vs. Northwest/Southwest winner
It doesn’t really matter who wins the play-in match. Putterman is going to win this match in straights. He lost just five times in last year’s regular season; twice to Pottish, once to Loustenko in a 10-pointer, once to DII Drury, and once to Trey Meyer in the 3rd place match. He’s not about to lose to Trinity’s #5 singles player.
#4 Andy Hersh (Hopkins) vs. Mya Smith-Dennis (Gustavus)
Hersh wasn’t nearly as good at Putterman last year, and Smith-Dennis is probably better than the play-in winner, but this match is also a no-brainer. Smith-Dennis excels indoors, and the gritty courts at Copeland-Cox will take a little bit off his shots. Hersh also beat Donkena in the same round of the same tournament handily last year. Different player for GAC, same result. Hersh in straights.
#3 Oliver Loutsenko (Skidmore) vs. Robert “Doesn’t he play NAIA?” Kjellberg (NCW)
I really hope they just seed the top 4 and put the rest of the players in randomly, because there’s no way Smith-Dennis should be seeded ahead of Kjellberg. If I’m Loutsenko, I’m furious with this draw. Kjellberg just beat the entire Emory lineup, and this match is being played in his backyard (comparatively). Loutsenko is someone who obviously has a shot to win this tournament judging by his victory over Putterman, but I think Kjellberg has the upper hand in this match. He had a much more impressive regional tournament, and he didn’t have to travel as far to play this one. Kjellberg in two close sets.
#2 Paul “What Am I Doing Here?” Burgin (Kenyon) vs. Neel “Anyone But Swarthmore” Kotrappa (CMS)
I hope Burgin writes a huge thank you note to Yaraghi and Garner. He’s in Mobile because of them, and he has one of the easier draws. No disrespect to Kotrappa, but I think he might have rented a hammock in Home Tree a couple weekends ago. We’ll have to see. The only way I see Burgin losing this match is if he feels guilty for not actually having won his regional tournament. Not really. If the match gets long, Kotrappa might have a fitness advantage, and he has the capability to make the match long. In the end, I think Burgin’s superior experience will pull him through a tight one. Burgin in three.
Doubles
#1 Balkin/Osborne (UWW) vs. Brown/Lim (Hopkins)
Upset alert. Balkin and Osborne got the #1 seed here by virtue of being the only doubles team with a national ranking to make it to Mobile. That’s because most of the other ranked doubles teams either graduated a player or shuffled themselves around (Chow/Meyer). Balkin and Osborne are a great doubles team, but they thrive indoors where they can crack returns and have their volleys stay low. They will also have a hard time playing the “no respect card” with the #1 seed, but I’m doing my best to give them something to work with. I don’t know much about Brown and Lim as a doubles team, but I imagine they are a little craftier. They also have had a more impressive fall season so far, winning a tougher region and beating Amherst’s #1 team. I’ll take Hopkins in a 10-pointer.
#4 Northwest/Southwest Winner vs. Isaacs/Szczurek (Emory)
I’m going to hold off on predicting this one until tomorrow. If either team wins convicingly, I’ll be a believer in them. Both Trinity and Whitman play great doubles, so if either of them found a team that can trounce the others’ best, they’re probably pretty good. If it’s close, Emory’s superior championship experience and lack of travel will probably carry them through.
#3 Wood/Dorn (CMS) vs. Heerboth/Turlington (Kenyon)
Not sure what to make of this one. If Turlington had to serve out the regional final underhanded, is his back feeling any better? Wood is sometimes phenomenal doubles player, but he sometimes just slaps his returns into the net. If they play well, I think they’ll win injury or no, so I’ll take CMS in straights.
#2 Micheli/Meyer (Williams) vs. Lathrop/Smego (Drew)
Let’s be honest, we all know who I’m picking in this one… Drew. Just kidding. Williams got through a harder region, has a better doubles pedigree, more championship experience, and their team won this tournament last year. I’m not about to pick a couple guys I’ve never heard of from Drew over them, but I will be looking at Drew’s scores from this weekend to see if their team might be headed for the top 30. They did a great job getting through their region, and they deserve the all-American honors, but that had to be the weakest regional doubles draw I’ve ever seen. Williams in straights.
Seems like that prediction about Putterman exploiting burgins backhand wont be able to happen….. #noactualseedsneeded
Hopkins won
Williams won the first set against drew.
Thank you. I was pretty surprised about that report. How about the second? UWW vs. Hop?
Do you know if there will be a link to the live scores?
No live scores that I know of. @northam tweets the scores for the Whitman matches, and the Trinity players are usually on top of stuff letting people know what happened. If anyone at the tournament wants to comment in scores, I think everyone who’s not there would appreciate it.
Latest update for first round of doubles:
Hopkins wins first set against UWW
Whitman def. Emory 6-1, 6-1
CMS def. Kenyon easy
Drew wins first set against Williams
Also, Kjellberg, Burgin, and Hersh on to the semis.
Skinner Skinner Chicken Dinner
Hahahaa, woow. Stunning. Gotta love tennis sometimes
Don’t be so quick to dismiss my boy Skinner. Just took out the Putt putt. Way to be Skinner keep it rolling. His match against Hersh should be fun to watch. Two good guys, good competitors duking it out
Skinner in versus Putterman, and you gotta go with Putterman there. Whitman in as the #4 seed. That will be a tough match to call. I think I’ll take Emory in a 10-pointer with a little assist from the sun and the lack of travel. It’s doubles, but La Cava struggled with the heat in a 2 and 2 loss to Pottish last year. Even if it only takes a little off his volleys, it will make the difference in a close doubles match. Should be a great first round match.
Gotta go with the homegrown Texas boy here. Putt putt for the win
Burgin plays with a lot of heart. The real question is whether Scooter will be able to withstand the heat. Only time will tell. Roll tide.
as a former opponent of burgin, he struggles with opponents who can penetrate the court and find his backhand, alla putterman. however, burgin has the ability to hang with opponents who play a grinding style like hersh and pottish because he can dictate with his forehand. burgin has the grit to last a long match and considering that mobile has one match a day (unless you’re in both singles and doubles) it will give him time to regroup
I always like to poke around this site, especially about all the players not in the tournament because they are abroad, injured or sick. Paul Burgin is a smart player. He Is good most of the time and can be great in big moments. I think being given this second chance he will make the most of it and run through this tournament. I believe he is the strongest to enter into this tournament regardless of the playoff match that still hasn’t been decided. Good luck to everyone!
How do you say that when he literally just lost to Putterman in straights? Not saying he can’t win, but really?
I think Burgin will be able to put something together. Played against him, watched him play a few matches last year at NCAA’s. I’ve seen him play some great tennis. If he can play at his level, putterman will have trouble and flat out no one else will touch him in Mobile. Not to be too judgemental or harsh, this is one of the weakest D3 tournaments out of any tournament I’ve seen. Other regionals out there had more top players than in this “national”. All the guys who were gone for regionals who were abroad or injured should literally make up the ENTIRE field if that was possible, Which of course for D3 never will be.
That’s fair, and the tournament would certainly be more interesting if guys like you, Razumovsky, Yaraghi etc. were involved. Burgin and Putterman are great, but the field as a whole definitely leaves a lot to be desired. Unlike you, though, I think Putterman will beat Burgin. As someone else mentioned, Putterman can exploit Burgin’s weak backhand better than most. He’s done it before, and he’ll probably do it again.
I feel like you guys are both forgetting Kjellberg. He ran through the entire Emory lineup. Just because he played #2 last season, doesn’t mean he’s not a threat to win the tournament. Sometimes, players get very good very fast. I guess we’ll see tomorrow.
I just dont see Emory’s line up being top heavy anymore. Emory has players who can play #2 or #6 kind of like CMS but a little stronger. CMS has players who look as if they will play top 3 or 4 and not even start and I honestly thought CMS would run the tables at the regional. Kotrappa won…..ummm what? He got better but come on. That goes for every regional as well. Putterman looks to be the favorite, yes, but Burgins top game I think is the best in the field that has been produced. Players do get good fast yes d3tennisguy, but remember, this is d3tennis. There are MAYBE 5 players in the national who win day in and day out without a second thought of it. Anyone else is just hot and cold…and that temperature gauge isn’t always pointing the way they would like.
Kotrappa has a fitness advantage over Burgin? Burgin looked to be in pretty good shape last year and this year during the regional. Plus any heat and humidity will help him. Will be interesting to see if he feels weird about being the only one there who didn’t win a regional