Hoosiers look to reach ‘next level’ at Big Ten Singles Championship

The IU men’s tennis team will conclude its fall season this weekend at the Big Ten Singles Championship against some of the nation’s best. Up to 16 of the nation’s top 125 men’s tennis players will be in action this weekend at the tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the Hoosiers are hoping to end the fall season on a high note.\nA 32-player qualifying draw will take place Friday with the top eight players advancing into the 64-player main draw, which begins Saturday.\nAmong the top players in the main draw are Ohio State’s Steve Moneke and Bryan Koniecko and Illinois’ Ryan Rowe, each of whom was a preseason Top 10 player. The player to watch, however, is Ohio State sophomore Justin Kronauge who, although entering the year ranked at No. 104, won last month’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional tournament, which included a quarterfinal victory over IU’s Thomas Richter.\nRichter, ranked 51st and the eighth seed in the tournament, fell 7-5, 6-3, to the 13th-seeded Kronauge, but hopes to do better if their paths cross this time around.\n“I was trying to be very aggressive; (I) hit probably five more winners than him, but also made all the mistakes,” Richter said. “So next time I would play him, I would try to force him to make the mistakes and let him miss the ball and not me.”\nRichter, a senior, is playing in the final fall tournament of his career before the team turns to head-to-head competition in the spring, and said it is important to him to do well.\n“I tried to win the last one, got to the quarters (and) had a shot of making the final,” Richter said. “I want to do better this time and try to win the tournament this time.”\nThis fall, six Hoosiers have been playing in tournaments while the others have been recovering from injuries. But all have been working hard, said IU coach Randy Bloemendaal.\nAt Michigan this weekend, Bloemendaal said he believes every one of the six traveling players is capable of playing deep into the tournament, and nothing can replace winning to give his players confidence.\n“The guys on the team have been doing all the right things, but we need confidence to get us to the next level of being a legitimate contender for the Big Ten Championship next semester,” Bloemendaal said. “This tournament is a great opportunity to be a vehicle to get us to the next level.”\nOne player especially looking to do well this weekend is senior Dara McLoughlin, who is just 1-2 for the fall, but is a two-time semifinalist at the Big Ten Singles Championship. The Dublin, Ireland native said he is excited to start competing and always enjoys playing this event. McLoughlin said he is not just concerned with his own game but hopes to see every Hoosier do well this weekend.\n“I think it’s really important for everybody to start winning individual matches,” McLoughlin said. “It will give us a lot of confidence that we can go out and compete with the rest of the Big Ten teams.”