Oct. 17, 2010
EVANSTON, Illinois, —The University of Iowa men’s tennis team finished their stay at the Northwestern Invitational, and junior Marc Bruche pulled through for the Hawkeyes as the Flight A singles champion. Bruche sailed through a talented field to earn his eighth victory in Iowa’s third tournament of the fall season, winning his first tournament of the year as well.
“Marc played great for three days, and really showed that he deserves it,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “He had a tough finals match, and fought hard. It takes a tremendous effort to win one of these.”
Bruche knocked off Northwestern’s Sadarth Balaji in two sets in the finals match, winning 7-6 (2), 7-5. Bruche opened the tournament Friday with a victory over J. Manuel Munoz of Marquette, and then won two matches Saturday over Otavio Perim of Marquette and Andrew McCarthy of Northwestern to reach the finals.
Iowa’s Jeroen Gortworst also earned a victory on the consolation side of the Flight B bracket, knocking off Thibault Troude of Marquette 6-2, 7-6 (1) to win his second match of the tournament. Jonas Dierckx and Mitch Beckert dropped their final matches of the tournament in the Flight B consolations, but each finished the tournament with two victories. Gortworst finished with two victories as well.
“Overall, I was pleased with all the guys that competed for us,” said Houghton. “I thought we got a pretty good team effort, and saw some improvement out there.”
The Hawkeyes picked up 11 singles victories for the tournament, as well as three doubles victories as a team. The tandem of Marc Bruche and Jonas Dierckx led Iowa with an appearance in the doubles semifinals before falling, as doubles play at Northwestern was finished on Saturday.
The Hawkeyes will have four days in Iowa City before gearing up for their next tournament this Thursday, as Iowa will play in the ITA Regionals in Norman, Oklahoma, for the four-day tournament.
Flight A Finals ChampionshipMarc Bruche (Iowa) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU) 7-6 (2), 7-5.
Flight B ConsolationsJeroen Gortworst (Iowa) def. Thibault Troude (MU) 6-2, 7-6 (1)Teppert (Wis) def. Jonas Dierckx (Iowa) 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (5)Robles (Wis) def. Mitch Beckert (Iowa) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (3)="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>