I felt like last week was very similar to the one two weeks ago. There just weren’t enough matches to separate any one individual performance from the others. See here are the Players of the Fortnight (POFs)
Atlantic South
Dillon Pottish (Emory)
I know. I know. Pottish, again? Unfortunately, some of Pottish’s teammates lost a couple doubles matches in the past two weeks, so I can’t really justify picking another Eagle, and I think it’s about time the award went to an Emory player. Just because it’s routine for him doesn’t mean it’s not impressive. Pottish went 8-0 over the past few weeks and was instrumental in Emory’s dismantling of the UAA. Teaming with Brian Kowalski, he won five doubles matches at #3, including wins against nationally ranked Case Western and Wash U. He also went 3-0 in singles with impressive straight-set victories over Case’s Will Drougas and 3rd-ranked Adam Putterman of Wash U.
Honorable Mention: Tanner Brown (Johns Hopkins), Alex Blahkin (Mary Washington), Ryley Erhardt (Rhodes)
Central
Ross Putterman (Wash U) and David Moss (Depauw)
Even though many of the top Central teams saw a lot of action this week, I didn’t notice any individual really go off and just destroy people, so here’s a two-way award for a couple players who excelled. Moss would probably have been my pick if he had played singles against Denison in the conference tournament match. He teamed with Eric Hubbard to win three doubles matches against nationally-ranked opponents Wash U and Denison (twice). He also clinched the victory for the Tigers when they beat Denison by winning his #5 singles match 6-2 in the third. Ross Putterman has recovered nicely from a disappointing beginning to his season. Though he and Adam lost their doubles match against Depauw, they beat Brandeis’ and Emory’s #1 doubles teams. Ross also went 3-1 in singles, contributing a straight-set victory over Carnegie Mellon’s Will Duncan before falling to Brian Kowalsky in an epic match in the UAA final.
Honorable Mention: Rohan Patel (Case Western)
Northeast
Luis Rattenhuber (Amherst)
Unlike the Central, there were several players in the Northeast region that had nearly flawless weeks. Sun was good, as always, but he lost his singles match against Bates. Pena was great for the Polar Bears, but he lost his doubles match against Williams. Rattenhuber was the only player that went undefeated over the past couple weeks. Against Williams, he teamed with Austin Chafetz to prevent the Jeffs from going down 0-3 in doubles by beating the #1-ranked doubles team in the country 8-5. He also contributed a straight-sets victory over 9th-ranked Matt Micheli in Amherst 5-4 win over the Ephs. Against Trinity (CT) and Middlebury, Rattenhuber was equally dominant, winning at #1 doubles and #3 singles with relative ease. He also chipped in a victory at #3 doubles in Amherst’s 9-0 win over Wesleyan.
Honorable Mention: Oscar Pena (Bowdoin) and Felix Sun (Williams)
West
Andre Halabi (UC Santa Cruz)
If I were governed by such meaningless nouns as “facts” or “common sense,” I would have to choose Nurenberg, Lane, or Ballou for this award. Nurenberg got to the semis of singles and doubles of the Ojai and won both his matches in the Slugs’ upset win over Cal Lu. Lane won all four of his matches against Cal Lu and Redlands, won the Ojai in doubles and advanced to the semifinals in singles. Ballou went 3-1 against CMS and Cruz, won the Ojai in singles and lost in the finals in doubles. All three had fantastic fortnights. Unluckily for them, I’m not governed by common sense, and I’m arbitrarily giving it to Halabi. Aside from getting an easy win for the Slugs against the Cal Lu, the Slug #4 came out of nowhere to reach the finals of the Ojai, beating P-P’s #2 Weichert, Redlands’ #1 Lipscomb, CMS’ #1 Wood, and his teammate Nurenberg on the way. The guy doesn’t even play doubles, but I don’t care. I have a rule that reads, “any time a #4 singles player makes the finals of the Ojai, he automatically wins player of the fortnight.”
Honorable Mention: Nick Ballou (Cal Lutheran), Alex Lane (CMS), and Devin Nurenberg (UC Santa Cruz)