Northeast ITA Preview

Ladies. Gentlemen. Children of all ages. Welcome to D3RegionalNEC’s Northeast ITA Preview. It took some time to find the draw, but thanks to a friendly coach for passing it along! For a while now, this seems like a tournament that has just one or two guys that can win it. Loutsenko, Wu,, Heinrich, Leung. All recent studs, and now all graduated. This time around, no one really jumps out as the definite guy to beat, meaning the chance is there for someone unheralded to seize the opportunity and get that coveted All-American status.

Before getting into the draw, I want to at least mention that this year’s event is hosted by Skidmore, which is definitely new. Whether it matters one way or another remains to be seen, but it’s a change worth mentioning, if nothing else.

The Seeds

#1 Umberto Setter (NYU)

Last year’s finalist and is back for one more go at it. The lefty plays a grinding, counter puncher style which can be tough to maintain for an entire weekend, but Umbe has a reputation for being a hard worker with solid fitness.  The good thing about Setter is that he doesn’t really beat himself. The bad news is that Skidmore’s indoor and outdoor courts are relatively fast, and offensive minded players could be rewarded against him.

#2 Steven Koulouris (Skidmore)

After playing behind Kai-Yuen Leung for years, Steven is now Skidmore’s top dog and will be looking to continue Skidmore’s run of success at #1 singles. A semifinalist last year, don’t discount the fact that Koulouris has plenty of big match experience, both in this tournament and in plenty of dual matches for the Thoroughbreds.

#3 Alan Dubrovsky (Hobart)

If more people wrote about Northeast D3 Tennis than me, I would say that Dubrovsky would be the trendy pick in this draw, but I guess I can’t call it a trend if I’m the only one doing it. Anyway, Dubrovsky had a very solid freshman year, getting better as it went on, and he also had some legit results this summer playing ITA events. A potential second round against NYU freshman Aaron Mackie could be tough, but Alan is going to be a tough out against anyone this weekend,.

#4 Danny Polk (Stevens)

Polk hasn’t received much attention since Stevens has regressed in the post-Heinrich era, but he’s still a very solid player who is not going to be easy to beat. A potential second round match against Tristan Wise (RPI) could be tough, as Wise has had some good results in the past, but I think Polk gets through that one.  Also, with this being Danny’s senior year, expect lots of That’s All Polks jokes throughout the season.

#5 Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez (RPI)

A semifinalist last year, SCS burst onto the scene last fall with some great tennis before falling to Leung. The spring didn’t quite go as smoothly for the Floridian, who took some tough losses, including a drubbing at the hands of Dubrovsky to end the year. Still, Castillo-Sanchez is a very talented player who has one of the highest ceilings of anyone in this draw. Expect him to come in motivated and fired up. His potential third rounder against Minos Stavrakas (Ithaca) is a rematch from last spring, where Stavrakas won easily. I think it’ll be a tighter match this time around for sure, and right now lean towards SCS getting through.

#6 JT Wynne (Skidmore)

JT is a fiery dude on the court. Love it or hate it, as a freshman last year he proved that he’s a guy that gets the most out of his talent, and I expect him to continue to be a tough out.  A third round match against Jonah Salita (Hobart) is very possible and would be one to watch for sure. I don’t think JT has the game to really make a deep run yet, but then again, I also wouldn’t be shocked if he improved a ton over the summer and just comes out balling.

#7 Jonathan Atwater (Hobart)

Atwater is a talented lefty who has been a key part of Hobart’s rise. While he’s been known to have his lapses in concentration, he plays with a lot of passion and, when he’s on, can track down just about any ball. A potential second round match with RPI freshman Brian Niguidula should be a good test.

#8 Clayton Thompson (RPI)

What does it say that a three-star freshman with no college matches yet gets a top-8 seed? Obviously, Thompson’s got some upside to be submitted as RPI’s #2 (relatedly, no sign of Xavier Oshinowo, who played a solid 1&2 for the Engineers last year). He’s got a nice draw into the round of 16, where he’ll likely play either Will Persson (Stevens), Allen Sokolov (Vassar), or Lucas Pickering (Skidmore). All solid players, but all beatable for the freshman to hold his seed and make (at least) the quarter finals.

Dangerous Floaters

Masaru Fujimaki (Rochester)

Jack McLaren (Skidmore)

Jonah Salita (Hobart)

Andrew Imrie (RPI)

MInos Stavrakas (Ithaca)

Brian Niguidula (RPI)

Predictions

Semis: Setter def Dubrovsky, Koulouris def Atwater

Final: Koulouris def Setter

Doubles

Like last year, it’s completely wide open. The seeds are fairly meaningless and very little would shock me in terms of how this plays out. Dubrovsky and Salita had some success last year and early on this year, so they are the team to beat in my eyes, but I’d hardly bet the farm on them, especially in a pro set. RPI won the doubles last year and had a finalist team two years ago, and although the defending champs of Zack Ebenfeld and Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez are’t playing together, the Engineers clearly have shown they can excel at this tournament, and I think all three of the teams they have in the draw have a shot at making a run. Imrie/Castillo Sanchez to me is a team that could really click. I’ve heard good things from several sources on the freshman Imrie’s doubles skills, and Castillo-Sanchez has proven he can succeed on this stage.   

Doubles Predictions

Semifinals: Koulouris/Wynne (Skidmore) def Grimes/Wise (RPI), Imrie/Castillo-Sanchez (RPI) def. Dubrovsky/Salita (Hobart)

Final: Imrie/Castillo-Sanchez (RPI) def. Koulouris/Wynne (Skidmore)

Well, there you go. Sorry it’s not nearly as long or detailed (or proofread) as I had planned. Real life got in the way today, hence the late posting. But until D3 tennis blogging can pay the bills, work takes the priority sometimes. I’ll tell you what, though. Be on the lookout for a nice recap of this tournament some time next week. Hopefully I’ll have some more time, and it’ll be nice to write about stuff that already happened instead of just speculating.

Alright everyone, enjoy the tournament! (And send me a tournament T-Shirt please!)