We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, but that was a damn good tournament. Great tennis, a back-and-forth DraftKings challenge, and phenomenal FREE live streaming! Congrats to Greg Janssen on his DraftKings win, and we’ll have an interview with Greg at some point this week. Shockingly, at one point or another every one of the bloggers was raptly following either the video or the live score updates. Not bad for a bunch of “has beens” and even a few “never was”. Now we’ve rounded up some of the “experts” to share their comments, takeaways, and maybe even a deep feeling or two about the weekend that was. If you have a certain question you’d like answered, comment/email us and we can add it to the bottom of the article.
What does Emory’s 3rd straight title mean to you?
AS: It means a bit, but to be quite honest not as much as you may think. Emory was the favorite going into this tournament. We all know what Emory stands for as a program and we all know that they know how to win. They showed that this weekend with the same Emory spunk and competitiveness that we see out of the Eagles. This team will be one of the top 3 teams at the end of the year, and you can absolutely count on that.
NE: It means they know how to win. This is not new information, but it is a constant testament to both Coach Browning and the Emory program. It looked like they really might lose in three consecutive matches, and things were almost dire twice. Emory fights, and Emory wins. Perhaps most importantly, it means we know what’s coming in a tight match in May.
NewWest: I think this title means that Emory is yet again a national championship contender team. We may just be in February, but we all saw a glimpse into how fiesty and talented this Eagles team is. Browning breeds a team that simply knows how to win and fights day in and day out on the court. This weekend proved to everyone that we’ll see Emory make another deep national run and quite possibly defend their title.
Regional: I think it’s funny that Emory is so darn good at Indoors and wins every year despite playing in Atlanta and not necessarily playing indoors as much as other teams. This is really just a testament to how hard they work and how fired up they are to start every season. Despite the loss of #ManjiManjiManji, the Eagles will be very good.
RegAS: Every year Emory seems to be ready to play from the first ball of the season to the last and that is a testament to their well known “fight” mentality. The Eagles always find a way to win and that is an admirable trait of the defending national champions. That being said, I think Emory is the best indoors team in the country. I sincerely hope we see an Emory/CMS rematch outdoors at the end of the season. Emory might be the favorite, but I think the outdoor conditions favor the Stags.
RegNE/C: Once again Emory proves that they just know how to win. Year after year no team outmatches the Eagles in terms of fire, hunger, and sheer will to win. A lot of the credit has to go to Coach Browning for developing this culture, and this weekend was a great example of what this determination can bring. That said, while Emory comes away with the big trophy this weekend, I can’t say they are the favorite to win the national championship. They’re certainly up there, but for as much as three 5-4 wins says about their grittiness, it also shows that the gap between them and some other teams is not that big. The Eagles will be in the conversation all the way to the final weekend, but I think there is still a lot to prove this year despite the Indoors title.
There were so many incredible matches. Which was your favorite and why?
AS: Impossible to pick between all the matches given that they all had some type of drama. Don’t forget that Chicago/Wash U third place match came down to the last match in what was two deciding tiebreaker sets. But, my favorite match would probably be the final between CMS and Emory, for good reason. It doesn’t get much better than a 4-4 tiebreaker in the third set to decide a national championship. It really doesn’t.
NE: I know it’s kind of blasphemy not to pick a championship match that comes down to the last match on and 7-6 in the 3rd set, but I was all about the GAC/Emory 1st round match. Emory was in control, having taken two doubles matches, and then out of nowhere the match did a 180. 3rd sets galore, the home/underdog crowd getting as rowdy as I’ve seen in a long time, players fired up beyond belief, it was so awesome, even if the upset bid ended just short.
AVZ: This question is about the team matches, but I think there is one guy who is a bit unheralded since last season and needs recognition. Zach Ekstein continues to impress. Last year he upset Erik Kerrigan at nationals and this weekend he beats Emory’s #2 Josepher, CMU’s #2 Downing, and was in a third set with Redlands before not finishing. He clearly needs to be recognized for these wins and sometimes gets lost because of what Al-Houni has done. Patrick Whaling is the same story. He went 3-0 against those teams with a huge win over Bouchet. Gustavus is quite strong 1-3 in the lineup.
NewWest: Hard to not go with the obvious match of Jacobs/Harrington in this spot, but the Wash U/Chicago third place match at #6 singles was super fun to watch. We had a freshman on Wash U trying to fight through his nerves and an experienced and incredibly talented player in Pei trying to close it out in two. Amazing to see the passion and fight from these two teams and especially within this #6 singles match considering it was a third/fourth place match.
Regional: I’ll go with the Chicago Wash U third place match. I love a good UAA battle as much as anybody and this was a classic. We’ll see what happens at UAAs but Chicago fought really well in this match, coming back from 2-1 down with the freshman Jeremy Yuan winning 6-3 in the third for the win. The championship match was obviously an amazing match as well but I love the UAA rivalry.
RegNE/C: I echo what AVZ said above, but in terms of team matches, my favorite was Gustavus vs Emory. We all kind of thought Day 1 was going to be pretty unexciting, and Gustavus emphatically proved us wrong. That the match took place on a Friday night at home in the bubble against the defending national champions just adds to what a cool atmosphere it must have been. With NCAAs taking place at a neutral site (and even this year in Claremont most students will be gone already) it’s rare to get these national-level matches with a real home-crowd presence. Because of that, I loved the uniqueness of the GAC-Emory match and it’s the one I’ll remember most from the weekend.
Lots of notable freshmen “debuts” this weekend. Who excited you the most?
AS: Normally, I would say Hayden Cassone because he’s from the ASouth and had a stellar weekend. However, I’m going to go against the grain because I already knew he was going to be a beast at #4 singles (hence why I picked him in Draftkings). The freshman that I think exceeded expectations the most would actually be Revanth (Ray) Boppana of CMU. He’s kind of been unheralded despite having a really good fall, and he proved this weekend that he’s going to be a key player for CMU this year. He took out Hamilton of TU and most importantly, Kerrigan of Chicago in what should be a surprise for everyone. Nice find for the Tartans in what has been a very tough year in regards to player retention.
NE: Katzman had a perfect weekend and looks about as solid as anybody out there (save for maybe they guy who plays one spot above him), but I’m gonna give props to D3AS’ reigning POTW, Hayden Cassone. AVZ said it best in the group chat, he “hits the piss out of the ball.” He hits a MASSIVE serve and when he wants to can absolutely CRANK his forehand. He is passionate, and seems to be a perfect fit for the Emory program. I have no doubt that Coach Browning will get the most out of his young stud.
AVZ: Katzman plain and simple is a national title contender. I put him in the top 4 players in D3 tennis right now. (Cuba, Parodi, Al-Houni, Katzman). But don’t sleep on VanderSman from Wash U. A bit disappointed that he got wrecked by Tsai in the 3rd place match, but overall I think he has a chance to be a great #2.
NewWest: I have to be most impressed by Katzman. He went 6-0 both at #2 singles and #2 doubles this past weekend and won his singles matches with ease without dropping so much as a set. Katzman and Burney also played some inspiring doubles with their closet 8 game pro set of the weekend coming in their first match against the Tigers, 8-4. There were some very impressive debuts coming from every team, but got to give my hat off to this freshman Stag as he absolutely killed it.
Regional: Everybody saying the same thing so I will go with the freshman Jeremy Yuan from Chicago. He had a solid weekend in singles, taking out Daniel Li of Wash U in 3, Kailas Shekar of CMU in 3, and fell to Hayden Cassone of Emory 7-5 in the third. He did only go 1-2 in doubles but I think he will be a very clutch singles player for Chicago down the stretch at that #4-ish spot.
RegAS: Katzman is the real deal and he proved it this weekend by going undefeated in singles and doubles. I am looking forward to seeing him continue to develop over the course of the season and potentially overtake Parodi for the first singles spot. I am very much in agreeance with my dear friend and colleague RegNEC that Katzman might be the best #2 singles player in the country.
RegNE/C: Katzman looked nasty, both on the live stream and based on results. He’s going to be an absolute force to be reckoned with this year and will be nightmare to face at #2. NewDIIIWest said in his POTW section that he believes Katzman could have an undefeated year at #2. While I feel like the freshman is bound to have at least one bad day given the brutal schedule CMS has, I definitely agree he’s got the talent and I don’t think there’s a better #2 in the country (Noah Farrell may disagree).
What did you learn from DraftKings that you will use (or not use) next year?
AS: Really not much else to say but I am clearly the best Draftkings player out of the Bloggers. That’s two years in a row at the top spot for me, all else doesn’t matter. But some parting advice for you guys, it’s really helpful to pick from a variety of different teams.
NE: I have to remember that the final day is played to completion. Lost out on 3 possible points with Lil’ Libao up 6-5 in the 3rd set in the 5th place match. It wouldn’t have affected the outcome of the team match, and I still wouldn’t have won the blogger tournament (freakin AVZ), but I would have beaten D3AS. Three top-five finishes ain’t bad though.
AVZ: I got robbed by Brysl not finishing out being up 5-2 in the third. It all comes down to knowing the lineups and unfortunately we didn’t have any advance knowledge of that this year. The podcast helped predict the CMS lineup, but guys like Harrington and Rubinstein would have been steals. I got a bit seduced by the Chicago freshman which I seem to every year…
NewWest: I have to admit, I went into this venture a little willy nilly, but now that I see how competitive it is, I need to lock down on a strategy for next time. I think it is best to diversify your players from different teams and give yourself a range of players with different singles and doubles strengths. I’ll chalk up my dismal performance this year to me not understanding how to budget (a quality that seems to translate into my life as well, sorry mom).
Regional: I was a little frustrated by the unfinished matches on the last day. Has this been done in the past? It probably has and I’m dumb and forgot. I guess it’s tough to predict who will finish though and at least it was consistent. I thought I did a decent job at diversifying my team and got pretty decent points across the board, but I didn’t get higher than 9 points from anybody.
RegAS: I learned that I need to wait until ASouth makes his team, and then copy it, so I don’t come in last place amongst the Bloggers again.
What is your biggest takeaway from Indoors, as it relates to your region as a whole?
AS: Emory will obviously carry the torch for my region, but there is not much to take away from an indoors tournament in February. We got a lot of good tennis, learned a lot about the players, and Emory was crowned again. Emory/CMS/Middlebury is a lot of coin flips, I hope, and Emory did well to potentially hold onto the #1 seed in NCAAs with this win. It’s extremely important given that there is a clear top 3 this year with Chicago maybe rounding out at #4, but I don’t think we can count them in Tier A just yet. For CMU, they had a rough draw to be quite honest and showed a lot of spunk against Chicago and a lot of heart to mash Trinity on a few hours of sleep. Losing to GAC on the road isn’t something to get your head down about.
NE: Emory, CMS, Chicago, and maybe even Wash U are all possible championship contenders, but they are all looking up at Middlebury!
NewWest: CMS is still above and beyond anyone in the West region. The likes of Redlands, PP, and Whitman are far far behind this Stag team in terms of talent and depth. Slot CMS into the elite 8 of nationals right now.
Regional: Agreed with the new D3West regarding the west region. I can’t see the SCIAC getting a second team into NCAAs right now and anybody beating CMS out of their region come NCAAs.
Pick a team from the weekend and give a tweet-length takeaway?
AS: CMU might surprise people this year. They lost to GAC 8-1 but the effort against Chicago was impressive.
NE: Chicago continues to mystify. Mediocre one day, really tough/gutsy the next. A beatable team that NOBODY will want to play in May.
AVZ: Wash U losing to Chicago in February doesn’t mean much but it will have a huge impact if they were to do it in April at UAAs.
NewWest & RegAS: Extremely impressed with @GACTennis this weekend. A valiant fight against Emory in the first round paved the way to two big wins against Carnegie and Redlands for a 5th place finish. I am curious to see how they do away from home.
Regional: I was pretty high on Redlands coming into the weekend, ultimately picking them to upset Wash U, who they lost to 9-0. The GAC match ultimately might have been 6-3 or 5-4 but it was a match I would have expected them to win. They have a tough schedule ahead and a lot to work on.
RegNE/C: Trinity having such a down year will make for some interesting bracketology later on this spring.