Iowa welcomes the rest of the Big Ten this weekend to finish the fall season.
By Blake Dowson
The Iowa men’s tennis team is set to host the Big Ten Championships in this weekend.
The championships are the culmination of each team’s fall season and a chance to show every other team in the conference what they are made of.
For the Hawkeyes, they would like to build on of a strong performance at last year’s tournament.
“We had every guy on our team perform well at this tournament last year,” head coach Ross Wilson said. “We had some good results that showed guys that we’re one of the top six or seven teams in this conference. I think the same thing needs to happen this year. The guys need to go out and prove to the other teams that we’re improved and we’re serious.”
Wilson said the key this weekend will be to compete well mentally. The Big Ten Tournament is a marathon, not a sprint.
The tournament will run from this morning to the afternoon of Nov. 9, with the doubles bracket being played out today and singles competition spread out over the final three days.
“The biggest thing when you play a tournament like this, you want to make sure they know it’s a progression,” Wilson said. “When they go out there in the first round, they may be a little nervous and not play great, but that’s OK. They need to compete well mentally so they give themselves a chance to win. If they can get through that and can do that each round, their level [of tennis] is going to get better and better.”
Senior Dom Patrick returns as half of the defending champion doubles duo. He and then-senior Matt Hagan won the title at Minnesota, becoming the first Hawkeye pair to win the title since 1958.
Patrick has set similar goals for himself and the rest of his team for this year’s tournament.
He said the Big Ten Tournament is one of the team’s first opportunities to prove to the rest of the conference the Hawks are for real.
“We’ve got to get people to the final day, that’s the bottom line,” Patrick said. “We’ve done well in the early days of our tournaments, but then we fade. We need to fight through it and prove we can compete all the way through a weekend, because that’s how it’s going to be in the spring.”
The stage is set for the Hawkeyes to open some eyes against the fierce Big Ten.
They enter this year’s tournament having only lost two players from last year’s lineup, and the sophomores who performed so well as freshmen last year are back for more at their second Big Ten Tournament.
Hosting the tournament is no small factor, either. Being able to play on the courts theypractice on each day will be an advantage for Iowa.
The great opportunity to host the tournament has not been lost on the Hawkeyes.
“It’s awesome to have the tournament here,” sophomore Jake Jacoby said. “I know for the upperclassmen, they haven’t had it here yet. It’s a privilege. There are 12 teams in our conference, and you can easily go through your four years without hosting. It’s a huge benefit to be able to sleep in your own bed, be in your own facility, and have your own fans.”
