Three IU men’s tennis players win Intercollegiate Tennis Association tournaments in the sixth week of the summer tour. The week six tournaments, called Cracked Racquets, was part of the ITA Tour: Summer Circuit by Universal Tennis and held in different locations across the country from July 24-26.
Senior Carson Haskins picked up the win in Lawrence, Kansas, while senior Vikash Singh won at Georgia Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Senior Patrick Fletchall won the tournament in Indianapolis.
“We were excited to hear that three Hoosiers had won,” head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. “The last couple of years there have been such few opportunities to compete, so for them to all go play different tournaments this past weekend and play as many matches as they did, it shows that they’re definitely committed to going out and competing.”
This was the sixth and final week of the tour. It featured 16 tournaments and over 1,500 players, with athletes from the Big Ten winning four of the tournaments on the men’s side.
IU claimed the most Summer Circuit crowns of any other school in the final week, leading the way with its three winners in the men’s bracket. The fourth Big Ten winner was sophomore Jacob Bickersteth from Michigan.
“We kind of took over the country this weekend from three different areas, and we led with three guys winning the same tournament,” Fletchall said. “It was pretty cool to see that we were all able to play the same weekend and get the job done.”
Haskins won by blanking his first two opponents, 6-0, 6-0, in Kansas before defeating his final two opponents 6-2, 6-3. Singh claimed victory at Georgia Gwinnett by knocking off one of the circuit’s top leaders, Presbyterian College’s Maxwell Benson. Benson was the 2021 Big South Player of the Year.
Fletchall won the Butler University tournament by sweeping his five opponents in straight sets.
“I’m going into my last couple years at IU and I’m just trying to get as many matches as I can to be prepared for the spring season,” Fletchall said. “I made some tweaks in my game leading up to the week before this tournament and I was very happy to see it pay off.”
The ITA summer tour gives collegiate players the ability to put in time on the court and gain more experience against outside competition. With COVID-19 taking away a lot of chances for athletes to compete in the last couple of seasons, Wurtzman was happy to see several of his players in the summer tournaments.
“We were extremely excited to see the results of this past weekend,” head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said. “We’ve been really happy with the guys motivated to compete over the summer, as that’s something I think shows their commitment and that tennis is a big priority in their lives.”
