INDOORS QF PREVIEW #1: No. 1 Chicago @ No. 8 Case Western
Match: #14 Case Western (4-0) vs. #4 Chicago (6-0)
Location: ITA D3 National Indoors – Cleveland, OH
Time: Friday February 22 – 4:30 EST
This whole article was written by NewCentral, FYI.
Case hasn’t defeated Chicago since they rode the heroics of then-captain, now-legend CJ Krimbill to a 5-4 victory in April, 2016. That Case team was led by multiple seniors and juniors highlighted by the doubles tandem of Krimbill and Stuerke, and they were able to maintain focus for the entirety of the match to avenge their earlier season loss. This Case team isn’t built on the automatic two-point foundation that was CJ Krimbill, but that hasn’t deterred Todd’s Spartans from stomping their mid table central opponents to start the year. Chen has firmly planted himself in the number one spot filling the spot left by Fojtasek’s extended presence in the Spartan lineup. Chen’s fellow underclassmen: Umen, Vicario, and possibly Powell will all have their work cut out for them in their first skirmish with a dual-match Maroon (Chen did a great job out his first try in a #statementloss to Blog Legend Luke Tsai.) Case hasn’t played the People’s Champ: Sam Concannon yet, but I can see Todd waiting for Indoors to unveil one of his team pillars – for the imaginary world of this preview let’s say he plays! Stroup returns to the scene of his most iconic Case moment when he clinched a third-place finish at Indoors, and Chippy hopes to create his own moment: a two-point day,in an upset, would be something to behold and blow up the Pool C conversation before it begins.
The only two jewels that Chicago have yet to adorn their crown with are: the NCAA Championship and the Indoor Championship. Chicago has already vocalized that winning (not doing well, or competing hard, but WINNING) National Indoors is one of their team goals; one that they believe is entirely within their grasp this upcoming weekend. Chicago comes into the tournament as the number one seed after winning UAAs and advancing to the NCAA Final Four and begins with a Case team they haven’t given two thoughts about since CJ graduated. Chicago have also stomped their mid table central opponents to start the year, but also continued to widen the valley between them and the next group of ranked central teams. Chicago has an opportunity to start building endgame momentum in February, and running through Indoors and defeating Emory in the finals would shift the national conversation, maroon. Chicago is as young as they’ve ever been (though they could always look like this since they restack their team with as many recruiting stars as am 1849 American Flag), and thus carry an air of mystery since we haven’t really seen their new kids battle and who knows what the freshmen did in their first summer out recovering from year one at UChicago. Yuan, Kerrigan, Pei, and sort of Rodriguez carry an unreal pedigree of experience and victories already – they alone should carry Chicago through to a date with the Eagles.
Projected Matchups:
1 Doubles: Anthony Kanam & Jonathan Powell vs. Tyler Raclin (3rd Yr) & Jeremy Yuan: Chicago def. Case: 8-5
Ever since the introduction of Tyler Raclin to the Chicago doubles lineup, Chicago has been able to field one of the most balanced and high quality lineups in the country. Raclin and Yuan and proven winners and their brand of classic doubles has proven to be of national concern. Yuan slaps groundstrokes through the opponents, while Raclin swings them side to side, up and down to his whimsy. This match will likely rest securely on the rackets of Yuan and Raclin who should be able to neutralize any offense from the Spartans while also dictating the match’s pace and scoreline comfortably. I think this goes routinely (one break, Chicago starts serving) in favor of one of the central’s best doubles teams.
2 Doubles: Matthew Chen & Zach Hennessey (3rd Yr) vs. Erik Kerrigan & Ninan Kumar (3rd Yr) Chicago def. Case: 8-7(3)
This might be Case’s best opportunity for a doubles point if you focus on their teams; Chen and Henessey might have the highest ceiling of all the Spartans. Hennessey is smoother than his namesake, and Chen’s game calls forth comparisons to former central legend and doubles national champion: Sam Geier. #Chennessey will likely face off against the hot and cold partnership of Kerrigan & Kumar. Kerrigan & Kumar have all the tools to be the best doubles team in the country, but how willing they are to team up will decide how close they get to that possibility. In Cleveland, on courts so slick that some youth hockey leagues practice skating on them, I think Chennessey pushes Kerrigan & Kumar to a tiebreaker and who knows ITA refs could spice up this match: it’s not beyond them…(someone want to comment that Ninan tweet from that past ITA Indoors?)
3 Doubles: Aaron Umen & Chaitanya Aduru (1st Yr) vs. Charlie Pei & Joshua Xu Chicago def. Case: 8-3
Pei and Xu are going up against more syllables than clutchness cares to count, and the ITA Regional runner-ups should cement themselves as the region’s best three doubles team. Admittedly I don’t know much about Umen or Aduru, but starting over experienced Case doubles players as first years says something about their pedigree. I don’t think it’ll be enough as Pei and Xu will slyly slide the ball down the line more times than we’ll remember in Chicago’s first point at the 2019 Indoors.
Chicago leads 3-0 after doubles:
1 Singles: Matthew Chen (11.29, 2nd Yr) vs. Erik Kerrigan (11.83, 3rd Yr) Chicago def. Case: 6-4, 2-6, 10-7
Chen battled with Tsai last time Chicago and Case played, but ultimately fell short of the upset in a third set super. I think that Chen and Kerrigan will split the first two sets before Chen falls by the same scoreline in a super in a decided match. Kerrigan does everything a little better than Chen, and it will take a monstrous effort for Chen to knock off a focused Kerrigan. Chen should look to keep Kerrigan’s massive frame on the move and take advantage of his superior athleticism as well as his opportunities to move forward. I think whomever wins the first set will quickly drop the second, and that Kerrigan will come out the day a double winner.
2 Singles: Anthony Kanam (11.15, 3rd Yr) vs. Jeremy Yuan (12.12, 2nd Yr) Chicago def. Case: 6-4, 6-2
Kanam could make life very annoying for Yuan if he keeps the points dynamic and attacks the net like 70s tennis player morally opposed to topspin. Kanam has great feel for the ball and the game, but Yuan wields a FAT hammer capable of bluntly destroying someone’s gameplan with deep groundstroke after deep groundstroke. Yuan defeated Mitchell Thai of Denison in what must’ve been an absolute war but confirmed that Yuan is an evolution above Mitchell Thai, and I think it would take the next evolution of Kanam to defeat him right now. Yuan will win the end of both sets to clinch this match for Chicago.
3 Singles: Aaron Umen (10.94, 1st Yr) vs. Charlie Pei (11.85, 4th Yr) Chicago def. Case: 6-1, 6-4
Charlie Pei is a legend at 6, but that doesn’t mean he’s a stranger to the top half of the lineup. Pei has played throughout the Chicago lineup in myriad matches ranging in importance for the Maroons. I don’t think Pei is Chicago’s greatest option for three singles. However, I think that he’ll massage the ball around enough to frustrate Young Umen into a quick victory for the Senior Captain. I do think that this loss will come back around in the form of a massive win in Case’s consolation round matches.
4 Singles: Max Vicario (11.53, 1st Yr) vs. Alejandro Rodriguez (11.81, 2nd Yr) Chicago def. Case 7-6(5), 6-2
Rodriguez is the stopgap preventing the Chicago first years from populating the top of the lineup right now. He’s the highest playing player in the Chicago lineup that only plays singles. He plays Case’s singles specialist as well in a spot normally designated (not really, but kind of) for talented underclassmen. Rodriguez will look to bully Vicario in his first serious UAA play with his whippy forehand that just drips. I think that Vicario will burst out to a 3 or even 4-1 lead but Rodriguez will eventually temper his Spartan opponent before winning a backbreaking tiebreaker on an incredibly anticlimactic missed slice or something.
5 Singles: Robert Stroup (11.49, 4th Yr) vs. Alex Guzhva (11.95, 1st Yr) Case def. Chicago: 6-4, 0-6, 10-6
I have the senior captain, Robert, Bobby, Bob, Bobert, Rob Stroup in at 5 over both Concannon and Powell because he is Todd’s Guy. Stroup has his work cut out for him against the more talented Guzhva (this seems to be a theme in a lot of these singles matches) but I think that Todd will ride or die with this senior captain at five here at Indoors and until Concannon comes back up to speed, so he can rock Concannon-Stroup at 5-6.. It’s not too long ago where Stroup’s heroics helped secure a third-place finish for the Spartans at this very tournament, in the very same place. I have Stroup gutting out a third set super after getting absolutely blitzed in whichever set he loses to Guzhva. Despite the rainbow road speed courts, I think that this match will feature extensive baseline rallies with Guzhva dictating much of the action. Stroup’s the heart and soul of this team (and even if he isn’t we can speak it into existence) – Case needs him to succeed: whether they believe it or not is the bigger question.
6 Singles: Jonathan Powell (11.55, 2nd Yr) vs. Joshua Xu (11.95, 1st Yr) Case def. Chicago 1-6, 6-2, 10-8
Perhaps, Todd’s favorite player since Fojtasek (but it was probably Klawitter or Will), Jon Powell has as good a shot as any Spartan in singles. I think that Xu will outclass Powell in one of the two first sets, but lose the other one just as quickly – so it goes. I think the home crowd and the fact that six is played all the way on the end (sometimes even on another bank) will help push Powell past Xu. Powell’s gotten some serious burn at 1 doubles, which makes me think that his best bet is to be the one dictating this match from the net. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these courts are FAST. If Powell can use the crowd, the occasion, and the home courts to his advantage – he may sneak this one away from Xu.
Projected Results:
newCentral: Chicago def. Case: 7-2
NE: Chicago def. Case 7-2 (with a doubles point for Case)
DIIIWest: Chicago def. Case 8-1
Regional NEC: Chicago def. Case 7-2
Regional ASouth: Chicago def. Case 7-2
ASouth: Chicago def. Case 6-3