Fall season play resumes for the Hawkeye tennis teams as they play in the All-American Championships this weekend.
The men will head to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to compete in their first major tournament of the fall this weekend, their second time competing this season following the Milwaukee Invitational.
“I thought Milwaukee was a good tournament,” Silverstein said. “There were a lot of positives but … I just have to stay tough and keep practicing.”
Silvertein went into the Milwaukee tournament as the No. 1 seed last week and made it to the semifinals. He is expected to be in the main draw of the All-Americans, and he will start singles play on Tuesday.
Two of Iowa’s newest athletes will also compete in Tulsa: freshmen Will Davies and Joe Tyler, both from England, will start their Hawkeye tennis careers on Saturday.
“It’s my first tournament of the year, and I’m really excited,” Davies said. “I’m hoping to get some wins on the board.”
Alongside the freshmen, Iowa will send Silverstein and fellow senior Jake Jacoby. Iowa will play the doubles team of newcomer Davies alongside experienced Jacoby in the pre-qualifier. Tyler will compete in the pre-qualifier singles bracket, where play will start on Saturday.
RELATED: Iowa men’s, women’s tennis collect some wins
Tyler is optimistic and excited about his team’s upcoming week after nearly two months of not competing in a tournament.
“Practices have been great,” Tyler said. “Hopefully, the results will fall into places after all the hard work we’ve been putting in.”
Some 1,500 miles west of Tulsa, in Los Angeles, the Hawkeye women’s tennis will compete in the All-American Championships, sending senior Zoe Douglas and sophomore Elise van Heuvelen.
Because she suffered a calf strain, the tournament will be van Heuvelen’s first competition of the fall season.
“Elise is doing really well,” head coach Sasha Schmid said. “She’s back to full strength and excited to get going.”
Although both will compete in the singles tournament of 64 players, the doubles tournament will perhaps be more exciting.
Together, the team of Douglas and van Huevelen ranks No. 42 in the preseason rankings, and it has qualified for the doubles bracket, which will start on Oct. 3.
On the singles side, both will compete in the pre-qualifiers. The 64-player pre-qualifying singles bracket will send eight to the singles bracket, meaning a player will need to win three rounds to advance to Tuesday’s tournament.
“I think for each of them individually, I know they want to do well,” Schmid said. “But we’re focused on just improving. We have got a long way until May. We’re staying more process-oriented than result-oriented, especially know at the beginning of the year.”