Tennis duo takes doubles title

The doubles tandem of senior Santiago Gruter and junior Jeremy Langer captured the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Summer Circuit doubles title, winning five matches  during the tournament Aug. 7 to 11 in Bloomington.

The tandem steam-rolled their first two opponents, edged out a 9-8 victory in the quarterfinals, won 8-4 in the semifinals and won the title with an 8-6 victory in the championship match.

The Summer Circuit serves as a qualifications tournament for the Main Draw of the All-American tournament the second weekend of October.

“It was a good step forward to get guys in the Main Draw,” coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “They did a great job going out there and playing well the entire tournament.”

Gruter and Langer faced their toughest test in the third round, where they challenged the University of Illinois tandem of Stephen Hoh and Connor Roth.

Down to two elimination match points that would have ended their tournament, the tandem survived both en route to a 9-8 victory.

“We played some tight points and ended up coming out of that,” Langer said. “Santy put away a shot to win it, an aggressive shot. It is something we didn’t do enough last season — put away the matches when we had match points.

“This is a good start to our year and a good start to the fall. It was a pretty good team. We’re probably going to see them in the regular season, so it felt good to get them now. I think we’re in their heads a little bit.”  

Gruter said he saw positives and negatives about their match.

“I was able to get it done on the doubles and singles side,” he said. “It was the first tournament I’ve played in all summer, so it was hard to get into match rhythm. I know I have to improve a lot, especially on my movement around the court.”

Nonetheless, Bloemendaal said he has a positive outlook on the upcoming season.

As players participate in workouts and tournaments in the fall, which Bloemendaal said put an emphasis on detailed work, the coach also said he wants his players to pay attention to what they’re doing off the court.

“You don’t have down time in tennis — it’s what you do when you’re not on the court that makes the difference,” Bloemandaal said. “It matters how they’re eating, how they’re sleeping, when they’re studying and how they’re managing their time.”

Gruter said he embraces that role.

“We’re going to have to step up as upperclassmen and lead some of the freshman on, and change the mentality each match,” he said.

Langer agreed.

“I think we have to really come together as a team,” he said. “I think if we play hard every match for each other and really act like a team, we’ll be successful this year.”