Gustavus Adolphus College is hosting one of the two ITAs for the central region. It runs from Sept 29-Oct 2. Aside from the glory of winning one of the more outrageously sized tournaments in college tennis, the winners of the singles and doubles crowns claim All-America status and punch their tickets to Rome! (Rome, Georgia)
The draws for the tournament along with match times and locations can be found here: https://gustavus.edu/athletics/mt/2017ITA/index.php
If you have eight quarters there’s a good chance that you have two dollars.
…so with that little tidbit on quarters, here’s a quarter by quarter preview of the GAC ITA which begins today !!
Al Houni’s Quarter:
Starting with the champ, one of the few people on the shortlist to win individuals come May: Mohanad Al Houni (1-12.63)[Seed in the tournament – UTR] He comes in as the defending champion and is far and away the favorite to defend his title. The seeds in his quarter are Kevin Mei of Carleton (17 – 10.43), Josh Pudlo of Coe (13 – 10.82), and Peter Jaeger of Carroll (17 – 10.55). None of them pose a threat to Al Houni’s march towards the quarters. An interesting possible second round match to look out for in this quarter could be between GAC’s freshman, Xavier Sanga and the 13 seed, Josh Pudlo. With GAC, Coe, and UWW all looking for bragging rights and momentum going into the offseason the matchups between these top schools should be exciting. It’ll be entertaining to see how the freshman does in his first big match against a major opponent (thankfully it’s at home).
Doyle’s Quarter:
The next quarter down in our massive central draw belongs to Josh Doyle. The Scotsman was given no favors by the draw and is headlining a quarter full of dangerous opponents. His first test will come in the form of the 17th seed: Jake Kudrick (17 – 11.07). This three star comes in with a high UTR, and if he’s able to beat his Gustavus counterpart in the opening round look for Mr. Kudrick to make his mark in the central with a Josh Doyle upset. The youngster’s splash will be short-lived because on the other side of the quarter is Yassine Derbani (16 – 11.34). Despite the momentum of upsetting the 8 seed, I think that Derbani will use his home court advantage and an extra year of experience to help him take this quarter.
Abban’s Quarter:
Possibly the most exciting player in the draw, Herman Abban (3 – 11.56) of Carthage takes ownership of the third quarter of the draw. The biggest worry for Abban’s fulfillment of his seed will be himself. Because of his doubles prowess, we can expect Abban to make it deep in the doubles draw, so he must make sure he doesn’t expend too much energy on the early rounds. The central region ITA is notorious for being physically draining especially for those pulling double duty. I predict that this quarter will go very straightforwardly and Herman Abban will find himself awaiting the quarterfinalist from the 5th seed’s quarter.
Thompson’s Quarter:
Our fifth seed is, when healthy, one of the biggest servers in the region and the UWW #1 is hoping to live up to his seed. Grant Thompson (5 – 11.22) gets to open his run by welcoming Macalester’s number one freshman: Sam Hochberger (10.06) to ITA tennis. Looking ahead however, the match in this quarter to circle is the possible Round of 16 matchup between: Thompson and Johnson. I think that Chase Johnson ( 11 – 11.29) is only a lower seed by product of his place within the GAC lineup because he is my favorite to win this match and the quarter.
Navratil’s Quarter:
At the top of the second half is Zane Navratil (6 – 10.96) , the other half of UWW’s 1-2 punch (unfortunately not as fearsome as the Humphreys-Treis of old). Navratil’s grinding style won’t be doing him any favors if he spends all day on court with the 17th seed Aaron Goodman (17 – 10.55). If Navratil wants to make the quarters, he can’t lollygag with any of his early opponents because both Gabe Steinwand (17 – 10.75) and Serhii Tykhonenko (9 – 10.76) have the games to beat Navratil, especially a tired Navratil. With all things being equal, I think the senior, Steinwand, takes out Tykhonenko, but his run is stopped by a motivated Navratil in three sets, 6-4 in the third.
Ekstein’s Quarter:
The hero of the NCAA tournament last year, Zach Ekstein (4 – 11.66) is the fourth seed and headlines a very straightforward portion of the draw. I expect all the seeds to advance with Ekstein advancing to the quartfinals without dropping a set. Luther’s Nate Parsons (17 – 10.26) had been gathering some momentum after his win over Pakhomenko (17 – 11.17) and was a trendy 12th seed pick to make a run; unfortunately, this was not the draw for that universe.
Whaling’s Quarter:
GAC hopes to send a resounding message to the central with a complete team performance at their ITA and their three players seeded in the top 8 are setting them up to do just that. Patrick Whaling (7 – 11.61) has been a rock for GAC in both singles and doubles for a long time, and he finds his name at the bottom of one of the more interesting quarters in this ITA. The excitement in this quarter can all be traced to Carleton’s Leo Vithoontien (10 – 11.65). The central has always been kind to leftys and Vithoontien hopes to use his looping forehand to follow in those footsteps. If he can get past Grinnell’s Sagumaran (17 – 10.69) without expending too much energy in his first big ITA, then he could frustrate Whaling. In an effort to prevent this ITA from looking too monotonous, I’m going with the freshman to make a deep run and upset the 7 seed.
Anderson’s Quarter:
The last quarter belongs to the leading Kohawk for the past couple years, Brady Anderson (2 – 11.98). While Entwistle (16 – 10.91)is a mighty fine player, this quarter is Anderson’s to lose and I think the goes through without dropping a set. The best match of this quarter will be between Whitewater’s Englehart (17 – 10.74) and GAC’s Entwistle, which I think will be a comeback win 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 either way.
In remembrance of the days where all tweets maxed out at 140 characters, here’s a blurb about these possible matchups in 140 characters or less.
1 QF: Mohanad Al Houni (12.63) vs. Yassine Derbani (11.34)
Al Houni prevents an “I am the Captain now” moment and beats Derbani in two close sets.
2 QF: Herman Abban (11.56) vs. Chase Johnson (11.29)
Herman Abban plays Chase Johnson for possibly the first of two times on the day. Wins both and readies himself for an Al Houni rematch.
3 QF: Zane Navratil (10.96) vs. Zach Ekstein (11.66)
Goku vs Vegeta this is not. Expect Ekstein to win a quick first set followed by a very close second in this battle of Z-Warriors.
4 QF: Leo Vithoontien (11.65) vs. Brady Anderson (11.98)
Brady Anderson rights the upperclassmen ship and beats Vithoontien.
1 SF: Al Houni vs. Abban
Last year, Al Houni and Abban split 2 tight sets before Al Houni ran away with the 3rd. Different yr, same outcome. Al Houni in 3 tight sets
2 SF: Ekstein vs. Anderson
I flipped a coin 8 times, Ekstein won five of eight. It’s that close. Ekstein upsets Anderson and slams the gas on the GAC hype train.
Final: Mohanad Al Houni repeats as champion and defeats Zach Ekstein in straight sets: 6-4, 6-2.
Email, comment, or tweet me with predictions and opinions. Look for a follow-up of hot takes after the first day’s commotion at both the Gustavus and the Kalamazoo ITAs.
-newCentral