By Pete Ruden
The Iowa men’s tennis team is going to do something it usually isn’t able to do this weekend.
Junior Jake Jacoby and redshirt freshman Kareem Allaf will compete in the Battle in the Bay Tournament in San Francisco Fridaythrough Sept. 25, offering the Hawkeyes an opportunity to play against West Coast teams, which is rare among Big Ten teams.
The chance to play new, different teams has the athletes excited, and for good reason. The Battle in the Bay will have some of the best teams in the country.
“There are a lot of really good teams and a lot of teams from the West Coast that we don’t get the chance to play,” Jacoby said. “It’s not only really good competition but competition we don’t see in the spring — different teams. It’s a really big challenge, but we’re excited about it.”
Last weekend, sophomore Tony Leto won his flight, while Leto and freshman Jason Kerst finished runners-up in doubles action at the Valparaiso Invitational. After having a fair amount of success in the first tournament of the season, the Hawkeyes will try to build on that.
“It’s motivating to see your teammates do well, and you want to do well, as well for yourself and for the team,” Allaf said. “It was their first tournament of the season, so to see them do well, it was also encouraging for us to do well in this tournament this weekend.”
Early in the fall season, the Hawkeyes want to challenge themselves. Head coach Ross Wilson said it is a good time to see where his athletes are at as well as getting them experience, which helps players improve.
Jacoby and Allaf will both compete in singles matches this weekend as well as play doubles together. The two have experience playing together; they won an Intercollegiate Tennis Association event held in Iowa City this past summer.
In addition to gaining experience and improving, success in this tournament could also carry over into the next one, as was the case this past weekend.
“When guys come back and they’re confident, it can rub off on other guys on the team,” Wilson said. “Hopefully, we have a whole team by the end of the fall, with a bunch of wins and a bunch of confidence going into our season.”
While the competition is good for this weekend and the location is very nice, the tournament is also prestigious. The San Francisco Tennis Club is a nice venue, and the tournament even provides housing for the players.
At a tournament of this level, players will want to give all they have and leave everything on the court.
“The Battle in the Bay is a prestigious tournament,” Allaf said. “There are a lot of good players. [It’s] one of the top [tournaments]. We’re just trying to go out there, and try our best, and compete.”