By Pete Ruden
It’s been a long wait, but the Iowa men’s tennis team is finally back in action.
True freshman Jason Kerst and sophomore Tony Leto will travel to Valparaiso, Indiana, to compete in the team’s first tournament of the year today and Saturday.
For Kerst, it will be his first taste of tennis at the college level.
“I’m looking forward to having my first college matches under my belt,” he said. “It’s going to be a new experience, and I’m pretty excited about it, but it’s also pretty nerve-racking coming in here, especially being the only true freshman. But I think it’s a time to prove myself this fall and get some confidence.”
After being a four-star recruit and ranked as the second-best high-school tennis player in the state of Michigan, Kerst wants to prove that he belongs at the college level. He’s been preparing by working out with the team over the summer, and now, he has the opportunity to showcase his talents.
“I just want to show that I can really compete at the highest level of Division-1 college tennis and to show that this is the place for me,” Kerst said. “I want to represent the Hawkeyes well and really have a successful week.”
With it being the first tournament of the season for the Hawkeyes, it is a time to build momentum and set the tone. Leto believes it can help him build some confidence heading into the fall.
“Hopefully, I can get a lot wins, [and] I can get some momentum carrying into the fall,” Leto said. “It’s a good opportunity to get more experience playing college players, and I think I can get some confidence as well.”
After a long summer of working out and preparing, players finally get their opportunity to show what they can do. When they take the court, they will finally be able to use what they’ve worked on during the off-season.
“I’m trying to prove to a lot of people that I’ve worked hard this summer, and I think I’ve gotten a lot better,” Leto said. “I think I’m ready to get some bigger results.”
The season is still very young for the Hawkeyes, so playing matches and getting experience is crucial for the players. Iowa head coach Ross Wilson thinks that the competition will help his team improve.
“Getting out there and playing matches, that’s the biggest thing for the fall that we want to do,” he said. “[We want] to get out against as much competition that we can and put ourselves into all types of situations and try to just improve every match we play.”
During his short time as the coach at Iowa, Wilson has worked hard to get his team to play a certain way. Now that the beginning of a new season is here, he hopes that will show in the Hawkeyes.
“[I’m looking forward to seeing] them being competitive. We talk about it all the time in practice,” Wilson said. “We want to compete at a high level. We want to be the best competitors in the country. We want to play with discipline. We want to keep playing our game throughout the whole match, and we want to play with a lot of energy.”