I can’t remember an ITA quite like this year’s Northeast tournament. Often considered one of the weaker ITAs (a fair assessment), this tournament has recently gone one of three ways: Skidmore dominates, Heinrich dominates, or someone comes out of nowhere to make a run (anyone remember when Drew won the doubles a few years ago?). With Heinrich no longer around, last year’s winner in both singles and doubles Kai Yuen Leung is far and away the favorite. Now, there are plenty of solid players in this year’s tournament, including a number of relatively unknown freshman, but if Leung doesn’t come through this draw it’s going to take at least one massive upset and will make me one very surprised blogger.
While Kai Yuen comes into the event as far and away the most likely singles winner, doubles is a whole different story. There is not a single team that I would feel comfortable pointing to as favorite. To give you an idea of how wide open this field is, the number one seeded team played third doubles for a team outside the top 40 last year. This is probably the best opportunity for everyone in the draw—sans Leung—to ever get All-American honors. I’m excited to see who seizes the moment, and hope that all these players are as well.
Anyway, given that Skidmore and Stevens are two of the strongest teams in this tournament, my good friend and fellow blog newbie Regional Atlantic South is here to share his thoughts on his teams.
RegionalASouth: Well hello again readers! Thank you Regional NE&C for the kind introduction. As RegNEC stated, this tournament has been pretty much owned by Skidmore and Stevens the past few years (mainly Skidmore). With veteran threats like TCNJ’s Pierce Cooper and Stevens’ Matthew Heinrich out of the picture, it’s pretty much Leung’s tournament to lose. With his recent run at the Midd invitational, he’s obviously still playing pretty darn well so it’s going to take a sensational effort to take him out. I’m not saying that it’s impossible, just highly unlikely. A shoutout to all the players this weekend: Prove us wrong! Upsets are always so much more fun to write about!!
Anyways, shifting our focus towards doubles, I once again very much agree with my friend and colleague that I have no clue what’s going to happen. Will Kai and his new partner find the rhythm that was missing at Middlebury? Will a #3 team from Skidmore, Stevens or RPI surprise us all? Will a team from a not historically strong tennis program like Elmira, Hobart or Nazareth overcome thousand to one odds? Only time will tell. While that may have seemed dramatic, any of the three scenarios are entirely possible and who knows how this rodeo will really go down.
Favorite
Kai Yuen Leung (Skidmore)
RegionalASouth: Ok, I’m gonna keep this short and sweet. Leung is the best player in this draw and he’s playing good tennis. You can count the players he lost to last spring (Zykov, Hewlin, Farrell and Heinrich) on one hand. Kai is good and the draw is weak. Look for him to cruise through, maybe without dropping a set.
Next best thing
Nick Litsky (Vassar)
Litsky is a former semifinalist in this tournament, going down in three sets to Heinrich two years ago. What’s important is that Litsky’s solid run took place on Hobart’s indoor courts, which could be getting a lot of use this weekend given the weather forecast in Geneva. The senior had a very subpar junior year, but if he can regain some of his old form and use the extremely slow indoor surface to his advantage, he’s as likely to make a run and challenge Leung as anyone else.
Daniel Polk (Stevens)
RegionalASouth: Polk has had some good results over his first two years with wins over Frons (Midd), August (TCNJ), Teoh (NYU) and Kranz (Chicago), so we know he is capable. Now the big question is with Heinrich gone, can he step up to be a true #1 for Stevens. He went 2-0 in singles against NYU’s two top players, which is a good start. Look for an interesting matchup in the semis with Kai if the seeds play out how they’re supposed to.
Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez (RPI)
The highest ranked of RPI’s freshman, Castillo-Sanchez’s only singles match so far in college was a 7-5, 6-1 loss to Hamid Derbani of Middlebury. Not sure what to make of one match against a quality player (probably not much), but his junior results don’t lie: this kid has game. I think a matchup with Polk (Stevens) in the quarters is likely, and I’m actually going to pick the freshman in a three setter to get through to the semis.
Steven Koulouris (Skid)
RegionalASouth: Playing primarily 2 and 3 last year, Koulouris only lost to Smolyar (Midd) and Wolfe (Bowdoin). That’s quite an impressive season. The junior is due for a very good tournament. Koulouris has a good draw and matches up with Litsky in the semifinals. I can very easily see an all Skidmore final with Leung and Koulouris.
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Umberto Setter (NYU)
The man they call Umbe is back for his second year with the Violets after missing significant time last year with an injury. A D1 transfer, he’s played big time tennis before, but has been known to go on some mental walkabouts as well. If he’s focused, he’s got the game to give his opponents fits.
Tristan Wise (RPI)
I mentioned in my kickoff article that with all the freshman for RPI, Wise’s role is going to be huge as a leader both on and off court. This ITA could be a great chance for him establish himself as a veteran presence with the Engineers. A potential quarterfinal against Koulouris would be interesting, and if it’s indoors I give a slight edge to Wise.
Michael Feldman (Stevens)
RegionalASouth: Being honest, Feldman had a pretty rough year last season, but he’s a senior playing in his last ITA and has had a couple good results and a few close losses. If Stevens wants to continue to progress in the rankings, Feldman will need to play up to his potential. That starts this weekend to build some momentum going into the offseason. Look for Feldman to pull the upset against the RPI freshman Castillo-Sanchez especially if they move to the indoor courts.
Matt DeMichiel (NYU)
Blog favorite DeMichiel may have played #5 for NYU last year, but that’s far from indicative of his skill level. The senior has a big game and can be very tough from the baseline. Unfortunately for him, the slow indoor courts will do him no favors, so if I was him I’d be hoping for no rain. Either way, a third round matchup with Leung is going to be tough to overcome. Outdoors, I do give him a slight chance to pull the upset, though.
Masaru Fujimaki (Rochester)
The sophomore had some great wins as a freshman, including a three set victory over Litsky. The two are on track for a third round match if the seeds hold, which would be very interesting. Indoors I think Litsky takes it comfortably, but if they get outside I’m going with Fujimaki in the upset.
Could make a name for themselves
Xavier Oshinowo (RPI)
I’m including another of the RPI freshman here mainly because his junior results indicate he’s one of the more talented players in the draw. He got torched by Cuba of Middlebury in his first match, but had a tennis recruiting ranking inside the top 150 and an ITF junior ranking around 400. Those are numbers that earn you a spot in the preview of an ITA draw like this one.
Minos Stavrakas (Ithaca)
Word is that the freshman from Greek has some serious game. He won the A Flight of the St. Lawrence Fall Classic a few weeks ago, and while the competition there wasn’t too strong, winning a tournament is still a great start to a college career. That result earned him a top eight seed, which gives him a chance to play his way into the tournament.
Alan Dubrovsky (Hobart)
Another freshman with few results to go off. He did play Stavrakas tight, and will be playing at home, so you never know. It’d be nice to see Hobart do well in their home tournament, and with tricky indoor court situation, the Statesmen should have a nice advantage if it rains.
DOUBLES
Like I said in my introduction, this draw is pretty ridiculous. I’ll go through some of the teams I think could get hot and win it, but there are probably 10-15 teams I think you can argue could win.
Matt DeMichiel/Benedict Teoh (NYU)
Although they played third doubles last year, two things: 1. NYU has put out some pretty strange lineups. 2. These two played together last year, which is more than most of these teams can say. The duo went 3-0 last weekend against Stevens, RPI, and TCNJ, which is how they got their top seed, and while they’re not world beaters, they’ve got as good a shot as anyone else at winning this thing.
Kai Yuen Leung/JT Wynne (Skidmore)
RegionalASouth: Doubles is such a tricky game, so it’s very hard to predict how this shindig is going to unfold. In terms of talent, it’s there, but this future top Skidmore team will need to work a few kinks out from their most recent first round loss at the Midd invitational. However, Kai is seasoned and a winner and could very easily take over and capture himself a second title.
Jack August/Mike Stanley (TCNJ)
Without Pierce Cooper TCNJ doesn’t really have any big names in the draw, but August is a very solid player and Stanley has had some good doubles results throughout his career. The Lions are generally a very sound doubles team and if they can execute a high level of classic fundamental doubles, they’ll be tough to beat. Added bonus is that these two have played together before.
Zack Ebenfeld/Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez (RPI)
A pair of freshman winning the ITA would be pretty surprising, but after going 3-0 last weekend in the Stevens doubles tournament, the youngsters might be hitting their strides at the right time. I think the freshman of this tournament might not fully realize the opportunity at hand, which could work to their advantage if they don’t think and just play. Look for these guys to struggle more indoors, as both are from Florida and probably haven’t seen anything like Hobart’s courts before.
Kyle Cenderelli/Kyle Henry (Stevens)
RegionalASouth: If the tournament is indeed outside, look for these two from Stevens to have a good tournament. At 6’3” and 6’4”, these two big boys should be able to use their big serves to simply overpower a lot of teams. I can see this team reaching the semis, maybe even the finals if they play well. They have a tough quarterfinal matchup against Koulouris/Pickering, but if they get through that, things could get very interesting.
D3Regional NE&C Predictions:
Singles Semifinals:
Leung (Skidmore) def. Castillo Sanchez (RPI), Koulouris (Skidmore) def. Litsky (Vassar)
Final: Leung (Skidmore) def. Koulouris (Skidmore) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Semifinals:
Leung/Wynne (Skidmore) def. August/Stanley (TCNJ)
Ebenfeld/Castillo-Sanchez (RPI) def. Koulouris/Pickering (Skidmore)
Final: Leung/Wynne (Skidmore) def. Ebenfeld/Castillo-Sanchez (RPI) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
RegionalASouth Predictions:
Singles Semifinals:
Leung (Skidmore) def. Polk (Stevens), Koulouris (Skidmore) def. Litsky (Vassar)
Final: Leung (Skidmore) def. Koulouris (Skidmore) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles Semifinals
Leung/Wynne (Skidmore) def. DeMichael/Teoh (NYU)
Henry/Cenderelli (Stevens) def. Ebenfeld/Castillo-Sanchez (RPI)
Final: Henry/Cenderelli (Stevens) def. Leung Wynne (Skidmore) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 (‘Cause why not root for the underdog?)
Thanks to RegionalASouth for his thoughts and expertise. We’ve got four full days of ITAs across the country beginning today, so it should be a fun weekend in the D3 tennis world. Be sure to follow along on twitter as I’ll be doing my best to update scores assuming we get some twitter updates (help me out, teams!)
Hey! will you write a recap about NE ita?