Oct. 30, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa sophomore Jonas Dierckx provided the upset of the tournament with a quarterfinal victory over the top-seeded player in the field Sunday in the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.
Dierckx defeated Indiana’s top-seeded and 55th nationally ranked Josh MacTaggart 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals. He is now a perfect 4-0 in the tournament in singles play.
Dierckx will face Michigan State’s sophomore Aaron Pfister Monday at 9 a.m. for a ticket to the finals match.
“Jonas has had an unbelievable tournament, and it’s not done yet,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “I couldn’t be happier with what he has done in singles and doubles here.”
Dierckx stayed in front on the first set to post a 6-4 advantage on MacTaggart, the reigning Big Ten Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week and a former singles champion of the Big Ten Indoor Tournament. He fell behind 2-4 in the second set, but won four straight games to win the match in straight sets and put the Hawkeye faithful in attendance in an uproar.
“It was amazing. I honestly didn’t really expect it – that’s a great opponent (MacTaggart),” said Dierckx. “This is my second year here, and it’s going awesome so far and I just want to finish it strong.”
In the third round, Dierckx topped Michigan’s Eli Brown with relative ease to advance to face MacTaggart. Dierckx beat Brown 6-2, 6-4.
Dierckx, who hails from Lommel, Belgium, also won the Flight B Big Ten Indoor doubles title with freshman Matt Hagan on Friday. Dierckx is 8-0 in the tournament with singles and doubles combined, posting more wins than any player in the field.
The Hawkeyes had two other singles victories on Sunday with sophomore Chase Tomlins and freshman Andres Estenssoro each adding a tally to the win column. Tomlins defeated Purdue’s Thomas Kroczek 7-6, 6-1 while Estenssoro bested Michigan State’s Ryan Richmond 6-2, 6-2. Both Tomlins and Estenssoro fell short on the third round of the back draw.
Action will begin tomorrow at 9 a.m. as the tournament comes to an end. With four players left in the main draw and four left in the back draw, two champions will be crowned Monday. Dierckx is the only player left in the field for the Hawkeyes.
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Singles Main Draw Round Three
Jonas Dierckx (IOWA) Eli Brown (MICH) 6-2, 6-4
Singles Main Draw Quarterfinals
Dierckx (IOWA) def. No. 1 Josh MacTaggart (IND) 6-4, 6-4
Singles Back Draw Round Two
Chase Tomlins (IOWA) def. Thomas Kroczek (PUR) 7-6, 6-1
No. 6 Leandro Toledo (MN) def. Mitch Beckert (IOWA) 4-6, 6-3, (10-4)
Will Davis (MSU) def. Michael Swank (IOWA) 6-0, 6-4
Andres Estenssoro (IOWA) def. Ryan Richmond (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Josh Graves (NW) def. No. 15 Will Vasos (IOWA) 2-6, 6-4, (11-9)
Evan Hawkins (PUR) def. Tom Mroziewicz (IOWA) 6-4, 6-4
Singles Back Draw Round Three
No. 6 Leandro Toledo (MN) def. Tomlins 6-1, 6-4
Will Davis (MSU) def. Estenssoro 6-1, 6-4