There are three Hoosiers wins in the IU men’s tennis in the summer tournament

Three IU men’s tennis players will win the Intercollegiate Tennis Association tournaments in the sixth week of the summer round. The fifth week of tournaments, called Cracked Racquets, were part of the Universal Tennis ITA Tour: Summer Circuit and took place at various locations across the country from July 24-26.

Senior Carson Haskins won in Lawrence, Kansas, and senior Vikash Singh won in Georgia Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Senior Patrick Fletchall won the tournament in Indianapolis.

We were excited to hear that the three Hoosiers had won, head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. There have been so few opportunities to compete in the last couple of years, so they can all play different tournaments last weekend and play as many matches as they did, showing that they are absolutely committed to going out and competing.

This was the sixth and final week of the tour. It had 16 tournaments and over 1,500 players, and Big Ten athletes won four tournaments on the men’s side.

The IU won the most Summer Circuit crowns of all schools in the past week and was at the top of the three-man winner. The fourth Big Ten winner was sophomore Jacob Bickersteth of Michigan.

We took over the country this weekend from three different regions and led three guys by winning the same tournament, Fletchall said. It was great to see that we were all able to play on the same weekend and get the job done.

Haskins won by covering their first two opponents 6-0, 6-0 in Kansas, before defeating their last two opponents 6-2, 6-3. Singh defeated Georgia Gwinnett by dropping one of the top leaders of the round, Presbyterian Colleges Maxwell Benson. Benson was the 2021 South Player of the Year.

Fletchall won the Butler University tournament by swiping five opponents straight.

I’m going for a couple of my last year at IU and I’m just trying to get as many matches as I can to prepare for the spring season, Fletchall said. I made some improvements to my game the week before this tournament and was very happy to see it pay off.

The ITA summer round allows collegiate players to put time on the field and gain more experience against outside competition. With COVID-19 taking a lot of opportunities for athletes to compete over the last couple of seasons, Wurtzman was delighted to see several of his players in the summer tournaments.

We were very excited to see last weekend’s results, head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. We’ve been really happy with the guys who are motivated to compete over the summer because I think it shows their commitment and that tennis is a high priority in their lives.