New-look men's tennis team has “something to prove”

The IU men’s basketball team is not the only Hoosier squad undergoing a major roster turnover from last season.

With six freshmen and only three returning players on a 10-man roster, the men’s tennis team heads into this weekend’s Big Ten Singles Championship in Madison, Wis., light on experience and full of untested potential.

“There are a lot of new faces this year,” said sophomore Lachlan Ferguson. “Some of these guys are pretty green, fresh out of high school and still a little wet behind the ears.”

IU will send five players to the tournament, including freshmen Jeremy Langer and Chris Peek. At the ITA Midwest Regional two weeks ago, Langer won three qualifying matches to get into the main draw. After winning his first round match against Michigan’s Mike Sroczynski (6-2, 6-2), he fell to Illinois’ Dennis Nevolo in the second round (1-6, 0-6).

Assistant Coach Scott Linn said the Hoosiers have been preparing all fall for this weekend and with such little experience, Linn will use the tournament as a gauge for the rest of the season.

“Big Ten Singles is a very prestigious tournament,” he said. “It’s a good measuring stick to see where we’re at this point in the Big Ten. We’ve got some guys that could go deep into it, but to win this tournament, it normally takes experience. But I’ve seen young guys do it.”

The Hoosiers’ best chance for advancing to a final comes from the sophomore duo of Santiago Gruter and Ferguson.

Gruter participated in the tournament last season, a feat his teammates cannot claim, and in mid-October he advanced to the final of the Louisville Invitational.

Despite his team’s youth, Gruter said he thinks the Hoosiers can be competitive.

“We’re going to try to do some damage in the main draw definitely,” he said. “There will be good players and definitely good matches, but we’ve been training all fall for this tournament. My expectations are high. They’ve always been high in this program, so I don’t know why it should change.”

Ferguson echoed Gruter’s positivity. He said the team aims to have two players in a final and to have the freshmen advance through the first round. Ferguson thinks he can win the tournament.

“It’s not unattainable,” he said. “I’m definitely confident playing at that level, so it’s just about executing on that day.”

Linn said his top players can use this tournament to build for the spring season.

“When you start winning at those levels, you start getting more confident,” Linn said. “When we start beating these guys, I’ll get more confident. Right now, they’ve got something to prove.”

The main draw begins Saturday and will conclude Sunday. The IU players not attending the tournament will participate in this weekend’s Western Michigan Vredevelt Invitational.