Coming off injuries, the Hawkeyes head to Indiana in search of a win this weekend.
By Pete Ruden
The Iowa men’s tennis team will once again take the trip to Valparaiso, Indiana, this time to compete in the Crusader Indoor Invitational from today through Sunday.
Sophomore Tony Leto will make the journey to Valparaiso for the second time this season along with sophomore Jonas Larsen and senior Nils Hallestrand, who will make their season debuts.
Both Larsen and Hallestrand are coming off injuries that they have been nursing from the summer into the fall, so it’s a good sign for the Hawkeyes that both of them are able to take the court this weekend.
Head coach Ross Wilson is looking for them to be able to play some competitive matches without showing signs of injuries.
“Nils and Jonas are coming back from injury,” Wilson said in an email to The Daily Iowan. “I want them to be able to play a full match at 100 percent without their injuries bothering them.”
Because of the injuries, Hallestrand and Larsen haven’t been able to play yet this fall, while almost everyone else on the team has had an opportunity to compete.
While Larsen played in multiple tournaments over the summer, Hallestrand hasn’t played a match since June. Still, not playing in a competitive match for that long can have an impact on a player, so both of them are just looking forward to getting back out on the court.
“I’m just looking forward to getting started with matches and competing again,” Larsen said. “It’s been a long summer. We did a lot of tournaments, had a lot of competition, but now we’ve been practicing for two months almost in a row, so now I’m looking forward just to get started again.”
However, it’s the opposite for Leto.
This will be his third tournament of the year, also having played in the Valparaiso Invitational, which was the team’s first tournament of the season, and the Bobby Bayliss Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame.
In his first trip to Valparaiso, Leto ended up winning his bracket in singles action, while finishing second in doubles with freshman Jason Kerst.
With success in his first trip to the city and playing in several tournaments, Leto is reaping the benefits of playing so many matches early in the season.
“I’ve had some ups and downs I think, but I think I’m getting more confident as the tournaments go on and it’s more routine now, which is good,” he said.
With a lot of the fall season now in the past, it’s natural to get excited about the upcoming spring season. But with the season still in the fall weeks, it’s important for Iowa to get as many wins as possible and build confidence so they can have success when it gets down to it.
“I think everyone’s looking to have a good fall in order to go into the spring with confidence,” Hallestrand said. “… If we can all end the fall on a good note, that’s a big positive for the team as a whole.”
The Hawkeyes have two big tournaments coming up with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regionals and the Big Ten Singles and Doubles Championships on the horizon.
While Wilson thinks his team has been performing at a solid level so far, he hopes the performance at those tournaments will be even better.
“We’ve played some good matches and others where we could have done better,” Wilson said in an email. “I think we are on track for where we need to be. I am hoping the guys will hit their peak at the ITA Regionals and the Big Ten Singles and Doubles tournament in the upcoming weeks.”
