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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

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Once question marks, Langer and Kendall are becoming sure things

Men's Tennis

Ever heard of Jeremy Langer or Will Kendall?

If you haven’t, you will soon.

Langer and Kendall might not get much publicity now, but the two sophomores are rising stars on the IU men’s tennis team, and they could help the Hoosiers capture a Big Ten title this season.

“They are both going to make a push to play higher than maybe what people thought they were going to play in the fall,” said second-year IU coach Randy Bloemendaal.

“They have both worked really hard to improve.”

Langer has been an up-and-down player for the Hoosiers since his arrival in Bloomington. The important thing for him, however, is the fact that he has shown signs of being an elite player.  

“I think Langer’s always had a tremendous upside,” Bloemendaal said. “He trained hard this summer, and I felt like he maybe didn’t see exactly how good he was getting. I mean, the guys feel themselves – they don’t see themselves. But I could see that he was on the verge of starting to play well.”

Langer was forced to be the No. 1 guy for IU at the UNLV Invitational earlier this month because of the absence of juniors Lachlan Ferguson (undisclosed injury) and Santiago Gruter (pneumonia).  

He stepped up, knocking off a top-ranked opponent for the second time in his career against No. 81 Andrew Carter of Louisville.

Langer has had his struggles in an IU uniform, but Bloemendaal said he believes he will headline the lineup this spring.  

“He’s still got another level or two to go, but you’re starting to see the results,” Bloemendaal said. “I think he’s got potential to play at the top day in and day out, and he’s starting to work like he wants to.”

Kendall’s jump has been even more drastic and maybe even more impressive.

The Short Hills, N.J. product would be routinely put in the singles lineup and taken out when it was time for doubles.

Kendall got some work during the fall, but he still wasn’t performing anywhere near the top of the lineup.

“We struggled a little bit at three (third team) doubles late last year so we tried to put him in there and he didn’t really have any success at all,” Bloemendaal said. “The fall was really more of the same. He had just a little bit of success.”

That all changed at the UNLV Invitational.

Kendall and fellow sophomore Stephen Vogl played exceptionally well in the Sin City, beating the 33rd-ranked tandem in the country – Louisville’s Robert Hall and Alejandro Calligari.

“That was very exciting. We didn’t actually realize they were ranked until after we beat them,” Kendall said. “We knew that if we just stuck to our game plan and played solid, then we would be there in the end, and that’s what happened.”

Why the quick turnaround? Simply practice.

“All the doubles drills in practice help a lot,” Kendall said. “Doing doubles challenge matches really helps you prepare and get ready for the tournaments.”

It is unclear where Langer and Kendall will play in the lineup this spring. They both understand the immense amount of talent that the team possesses.

What is clear, however, is that the once-unknown sophomores are starting to put their names in the mix.

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