MacTaggart leads emerging IU squad

Josh MacTaggart has always had a knack for frustrating his opponents.

The IU sophomore brought a Big Ten opponent to tears last year.

While playing junior tennis in his native England, MacTaggart narrowly avoided physical confrontation with an annoyed competitor.

“Luckily the refs were able to break it up before (the fight) because the guy was about six-five,” MacTaggart joked. “It was pretty lucky.”

Recently named the Big Ten Men’s Tennis Player of the Week after scoring the clinching point in IU’s upset of then-No. 18 Michigan on Sunday, MacTaggart rarely loses the psychological battle during his matches. He rarely loses the match, either, entering this weekend’s matches with a 14-3 record in dual matches for the No. 29 Hoosiers (16-4, 3-0 Big Ten).

IU junior Stephen Vogl, who has teamed with MacTaggart for an 18-1 doubles record in duals, said MacTaggart’s style is challenging to play against.

“He does a good job in terms of just knowing what his opponent’s weakness is and hitting shots to his opponent’s weakness, making them break down emotionally and physically,” Vogl said. “I think he enjoys seeing his opponent in pain.”

MacTaggart said he plays more offensive tennis than he did last season, when he was content to float balls back into play from well behind the baseline. Still, his success is predicated on counter-punching and not beating himself.

“I try to keep myself as positive as I can and don’t give them any free shots, free points,” MacTaggart said. “And if they play too good, then I just got to shake their hand at the end and say they were too good for me today. But I try not to give them any free points and then they have to work hard to win it.”

IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said most underclassmen are inconsistent in their levels of play, but that doesn’t apply to MacTaggart. This steady play is also recognized by his teammates.

“It gives us a lot of confidence to know that we have a guy that’s going to win every match,” junior Jeremy Langer said. “It takes a little bit of pressure off of everyone and helps everyone on the team do a little bit better.”

This consistency has resulted in MacTaggart reappearing in the national rankings this week. He checked in at No. 109 in singles, and he and Vogl are the No. 81 doubles team. The pair has won 13 straight games.

“I think the team chemistry is real good between me and Stephen,” MacTaggart said. “We draw a lot of energy from each other during the match and tend to get really positive from that. The fact that we’re such good friends off the court is why we’re doing really well on the court.”

Vogl said MacTaggart’s finesse and feel for the game play a big role in their success.

“He just brings a sense of knowing what to do on the court in terms of knowing what angles to hit and what shot to hit in certain situations,” Vogl said. “His tennis IQ is really high, which helps both him and I significantly.”

In addition to being a shrewd tactician and a steady performer, MacTaggart is arguably the team’s most vocal player on the court. He said it is just a part of his personality, not a method to intentionally get under his opponent’s skin.

But sometimes it functions that way.

“If you tend to be positive when they play a bad shot, it tends to piss them off more and more, and it tends to spiral out of control sometimes,” MacTaggart said.

Maybe some of MacTaggart’s vanquished opponents can attest to that theory.