IU sends Gruter, MacTaggart Big Ten semis

Josh MacTaggart and Santiago Gruter couldn’t be more different tennis players.
MacTaggart is a freshman; Gruter, a junior.

MacTaggart is smaller than nearly all of his opponents. Gruter is bigger than most of his.

The two Hoosiers do have one important thing in common, however – they both continue to win.

MacTaggart and Gruter advanced to today’s Big Ten singles semifinals in the conference’s indoor tournament on the campus of Michigan State.

“The guys are playing well right now,” IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “They need to stay focused on (today).”

Gruter struggled somewhat in his first round match against Sidarth Balaji of Northwestern (6-7, 7-6, 6-0), but he dominated his next three opponents.
The Lima, Peru, native won his final six sets, including two by a score of 6-3 against eighth-seeded Eddie Bouchier of Penn State.

“Santiago is playing some of the best tennis that I’ve seen him play,” Bloemendaal said. “He’s been winning with scores that are dominating, really. He’s played very well for the last two days.”

MacTaggart, who advanced to the round of eight at last weekend’s regional, took all but one of his sets on the weekend and eliminated fifth-seeded Mike Sroczynski of Michigan (7-6, 6-1) in Sunday’s quarterfinal.

The United Kingdom native will play Penn State’s Jason Lee at 9 a.m. today, while Gruter is scheduled to play Michigan’s Chris Madden, the sixth-seeded player in the tournament.

Bloemendaal said the mental aspects of the semifinal matches could be more important than the physical ones.

“To be honest with you, I don’t feel like the level of competition is going to go up,” he said. “It’s really going to be more about how we digest the situation in front of us. With each and every round there can be a perceived pressure even though there’s really not one. It’s really how we handle that. This could be a great step for each individual, and it’s a great opportunity for the program as well.”