It’s time for a microwave preview! As you all know from my twitter, we had a great day of play today at the UAA tournament, both Men’s and Women’s. I’ll be focusing on the Men’s semifinals in this preview, and who knows, maybe D3Regional will step up for once and get another Regional Roundup for those regional matches in the backdraw. Either way, we know that D3Central killed it with his predictions, as he got almost every match right overall and called the clinch in three sets by senior Deepak Sabada of Chicago. You know what happened today though, and you should reference the UAA Overall preview if you wanted my general thoughts. Let’s get to the semis. All semifinal matches will be happening tomorrow at 1PM, or after the girls matches, I believe.
Semifinal #1 – #1 Emory vs. #5 Chicago
Chicago survived the “UAA Brawl” as dubbed by Central and they get rewarded by playing Emory, a team that fights just as hard as Case Western. I mean, their uniforms say “Fight” on the back of their T-shirts. That’s legit. It’s still up in the air whether or not they get new uniforms every week, but either way, those things are dope. Let’s go match by match, right now.
#1 Doubles – Ruderman/Wagner (EU) vs. Sabada/Bhargava (UC)
Advantage, Emory. The team of Ruderman/Wagner has been steady all year and the Chicago team is coming off a tough loss against a tough Case team today. Emory’s doubles is not always the prettiest, but the groundstroke heavy team of Emory should be handle the shot making of the Chicago #1s. If they catch fire, they could take this thing, but the discipline from Emory’s top team will be too much. Emory, 8-6
#2 Doubles – Halpern/Manji (EU) vs. Tsai/Hawkins (UC)
Central told me while they were playing that “the good Tsai and Hawkins team showed up today.” What does that mean for the rest of the tournament? To me, that means good things for this team and I don’t think they will take the loss against this Emory team. I believe this is Emory’s weakest team, as they have shuffled partners around with Halpern all year, and nothing has seemed to work. Tsai and Hawkins are the favorites here, especially after Emory’s performance today at #2 doubles. Chicago, 8-3
#3 Doubles – Mosetick/Omsky (EU) vs. Chua/Liu (UC)
BIG matchup here between the veteran team of Mosetick/Omsky and the freshman team of Chua/Liu. We know about the Emory team – Omsky charges the net and plays with a lot of fire, while the pesky Mosetick continues to grind at the baseline until his opportunity arises. This is a team that will not go down without a fight. Chua/Liu had a tough one today against Case Western, who always have a solid doubles lineup. In a high-pressure matchup, do I take the talented freshmen or the team that’s been here over and over? Mosetick has been on fire this year and I’m taking the Eagles in a close one. Emory 9-8 (5)
#1 Singles – Ruderman (EU) vs. Chua (UC)
Big time matchup here between two guys that have kind of disappointed in the spring. When I say disappointed, I mean haven’t held up to the extremely high standards I have for both of these guys. These are great players for sure and this one will be one of my swing matches. Chua was up big today against Krimbill and then things just went downhill. I wonder what happened. He has a tendency to be very streaky in his matches, while Ruderman is the opposite. Expect the ebbs and flows of this match to be huge, and I’m taking the senior. Emory, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
#2 Singles – Halpern (EU) vs. Kranz (UC)
Halpern seemed to love my comparison of him and Richard Sherman the other day. Well, when the game is on the line, Sherman usually delivers. I expect the senior Halpern to deliver tomorrow against a spot that Chicago tends to struggle at. Kranz has struggled with fitness in the past, and he had a tough one against Drougas this morning. It’s going to be tough to play Halpern the next day and he presents a totally different player as well. Emory has the advantage here for sure. Emory, 6-3, 6-4.
#3 Singles – Mosetick (EU) vs. Sabada (UC)
If Chicago is going to win this match, they will need their senior to put aside the fiery #3 singles player of Emory. Mosetick has basically gone undefeated this year at this spot and he will be a tough matchup for Sabada with his grinding style. I expect the yips Mosetick has had on his serve to be long gone (they probably are already) and Sabada to have some runs, but I just can’t go against history. Mosetick is undefeated until someone beats him. Emory, 6-2, 7-5.
#4 Singles – Wagner (EU) vs. Leung (UC)
The bottom of the lineup is where Chicago might be able to take advantage, because they are super deep and that is what they pride themselves on. Wagner has done his usual thing this year, and Leung has been a rock at the #4 spot. This is a huge match for the Maroons. They really can’t afford to lose this one, and if Wagner comes out and plays well, he could essentially dagger the Maroons before the match is over. I’ve seen Ian come out and play lights out in big matches before, so Chicago should be wary. I think Leung is the favorite here, but watch out. Chicago, 7-6, 6-4
#5 Singles – Goodman (EU) vs. Tsai (UC)
Another big matchup here for Chicago because again, this is where Chicago is strong. Tsai played a really tough match today against Komarov, who I guess is a really legit #5 player after taking sets off Tsai and Kirkov the past few weeks. Goodman has stepped up his play since Indoors, but it’s not like he is a sure win. This is a swing match here. Tsai knows how important this one is for the Maroons and I like him to prevail. Chicago, 6-3, 7-5. Hopefully I don’t get yelled at on twitter for this one.
#6 Singles – Manji (EU) vs. Liu (UC)
After today’s match where Liu just went HAM against Chen of Case, I thought for sure I was going to pick the freshman at #6. He plays another freshman of high regard at the blog and a new addition to the lineup. I guess Manji has had a good year at practice because he;s being relied on at the biggest time of the year. I don’t believe that the Maroons can win every match from 4-6, so I have to pick Manji here. They will do battle and fitness will take hold of Liu in the third set, if it even gets there. Emory, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
D3ASouth Prediction – Emory 7-2
D3Central: Emory over Chicago 7-2 (wins at 1 and 3 doubles; 1-5 singles)
Semifinal #2 – #2 Wash U vs. #3 Carnegie Mellon
Both Central and I think this will be the closer of the two semifinals, and this one should be a doozy and a potential match of the tournament. It will have hard competition against today’s Case/Chicago match, but the semifinals means that much more. I said in my UAA overall preview that I thought there was going to be one big upset. If you’re not counting the Chicago “upset” over Case, and you’ve seen my prediction for the Emory/Chicago match, then you can probably tell who I might pick here. This is going to be a close match either way, and anyone can see that. Wash U has not had the season they wanted so far and CMU has been lurking despite a few ups and downs this year. I think there will be more clarity with the matchup by matchup preview, so let’s get to it.
#1 Doubles – Putterman/Bush (WU) vs. Heaney-Secord/Duncan (CMU)
The doubles team of Putterman/Bush has yet to hit their stride yet this year, but they are still an extremely dangerous team. They only made the semifinals of NCAAs last year, no big deal. However, the senior team of CMU (I’ve had enough of typing CHS) has been lights out recently. They have wins over Hopkins, UMW, Brandeis, Case, etc, etc. They have been by far the MVP’s of CMU’s doubles season. I have to go with a team of two seniors here. CMU, 8-6
#2 Doubles – Haugen/Chu (WU) vs. Beisswanger/Kumar (CMU)
Central really loves the #2 team from Wash U, and I must say I do as well. The CMU team has not been the breakout team that I expected this year and they are now back at #2 doubles. They had a rough time against a tough Brandeis team at #2 today, although it would be stupid to only base things on that result. Haugen and Chu bring a ton of firepower and it’s really hard to break Chu’s serve. I like the Wash U team to come away with this thing considering they play so well together and have the goods to break multiple times. Wash U, 8-5.
#3 Doubles – Cogan/Kratky (WU) vs. Zheng/Ang (CMU)
Both of these teams are new teams for both of these teams, which basically makes this thing a swing match. Wash U has decided they are going to just go with some of their best players, which is a pretty damn good strategy at #3 doubles. On the CMU side, I don’t have much intel about this team unfortunately but it is definitely a surprise to see Ang back in the lineup this year. They have done well since their introduction, with wins over UMW, Hop, and Brandeis, so it looks like they must be pretty good. Swing match special here, and I don’t know who to pick. Bias wins all. CMU, 9-7.
#1 Singles – Carswell (WU) vs. Alla (CMU)
Much has been made about Carswell’s play this year but this dude is still a legit #1 player who has good wins. Alla has been on fire lately as well and he routed another good player in Granoff today. I have to go with the hot hand. CMU, 6-4, 6-2.
#2 Singles – Putterman (WU) vs. Heaney-Secord (CMU)
I think it will come down to this match. I really do. Heaney-Secord seems to always be in these types of matches. As I said in the UAA preview, he’s basically a coin flip as to what he’s going to do day after day. Both are seniors, both play big, both are bigger than 6 feet. This is the marquee matchup of the match. I’ll save my prediction for the end, where this one will decide a 5-4 match.
#3 Singles – Bush (WU) vs. Duncan (CMU)
Bush had a tough loss today against Rochester and generally has not been the automatic win we saw last year. He has a tough matchup against the senior in Duncan, who I am sure wants to go out with a bang. I don’t believe Bush will lose two days in a row, but weirder things have happened. If Duncan is on his game, he can absolutely steal this match. But, I like the guy that has been consistent all year at this position. Wash U, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.
#4 Singles – Kratky (WU) vs. Wadwani (CMU)
I think this is going to be a tough matchup for Kratky. Wadwani is always tough to play and I am sure he is loving it in Altamonte Springs. It looks like he grinded out the #4 of Brandeis today as his second set was a rollover set and he should be fresh for today’s match. This one will totally depend on how Tyler is playing tomorrow and that makes me nervous. Kratky is a seasoned veteran on this Wash U team and he has saved his best play for the end of the year before. However, I think this is what Wadwani has played for all year. CMU 7-5, 6-3.
#5 Singles – Wu (WU) vs. Kirkov (CMU)
I love typing out that Wu WU thing, but that’s way off topic.Wu is a top freshman who has been GREAT this year at #5 singles. He has bought into the Wash U system and is willing to fight out matches down at the bottom. Kirkov has been confusing to me this year because he doesn’t really lose but he always makes it close. If Kiril had full strength on his backhand and was playing like he did last year, I’d pick him. But, I don’t think that’s possible. Wash U 6-2, 6-4.
#6 Singles – Chu (WU) vs. Zheng (CMU)
Today, we saw Ang in the #6 spot but I don’t think there is any way that Zheng doesn’t play in this match. Zheng is a consistent player who is well suited to playing #6, but Kevin Chu is a different beast down there. With a big serve and forehand he will give Zheng a ton of trouble with his attacking style. If Chu is playing well I’m really unsure if Zheng has the firepower to go toe to toe with him. Like I said, I go with history. Wash U, 6-2, 6-3.
D3ASouth Overall Prediction: Despite Wash U’s dominance at the bottom of the lineup, I think this is going to 5-4 and I think this is going to be decided by the senior battle at #2. In another heroic moment, I’m going to take CMU to take #2 singles, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to send them to the finals! I have to stick with my overall preview, and this is going to be my upset!
D3Central: Wash U over CMU 5-4 (wins at 1 and 2 doubles, 2, 5, and 6 singles)
I’m a bit scared for my prediction of an upset considering the King of predicting matches, D3Central, is picking Wash U. But, let’s chalk it up to regional bias because we’re going HEAD TO HEAD. I’m rooting for an ASouth final. Why do you think I love the UAA so much?! Okay, I’m out to enjoy my night. ASouth, OUT.
Matches are slated to begin at 2 tomorrow.