The Indiana men’s tennis team traveled to Durham, North Carolina, over the weekend to open its fall season at the Duke Bonk Invitational.
Four Hoosiers participated in the weekend event, led by three upperclassmen who took the trip to Durham: fifth-year senior Patrick Fletchall, junior Michael Andre and junior Ilya Tiraspolsky. Ekansh Kumar, a freshman, was the fourth Hoosier participant.
“It was a strong tournament, there’s a lot of good teams there, a lot of good players,” head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said after the event.
Flethcall and Andre both competed in the Singles A Draw bracket. In the competition, Andre placed fifth, while Fletchall received fourth place in the consolation bracket.
“That was a great start for Michael, and it definitely gave him some confidence moving on,” Wurtzman said.
Tiraspolsky finished in 15th place in the Singles B Draw bracket, while Kumar placed first in the Singles C Draw Consolation bracket.
After losing in his first collegiate match to begin the tournament, Kumar was able to bounce back and win the Singles C Draw consolation bracket — taking the final two sets to one.
“You can tell he loves the competition,” Wurtzman said. “He loves being out there competing and that’s what you love to see as a freshman.”
Wurtzman said the weekend tournament gave the guys who played well some confidence moving forward.
“It was a little bit of a wake up call that we have to get going, we have to work hard and we have to get a lot more matches this fall so we’re ready to go in the spring,” Wurtzman said.
The Hoosiers are back in action in a week's time at the Spartan Duals Invite in East Lansing, Michigan, beginning Sept. 30 and at the ITA All-American Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oct. 1.
They will participate in the Spartan Duals Invite, an event similar to the Duke Bonk Invitational. The tournament will begin Friday, Sept. 30 and will conclude Sunday, Oct. 2.
The Hoosiers will also participate in the ITA All-American Championship in Tulsa. The national event begins on Saturday, Oct. 1 and will run until Sunday, Oct. 9.
