Already down one set and quickly losing the second, Northwestern freshman Tommy Hanus was having a tough time Saturday in his match against Indiana’s Milan Rakvica. Clearly frustrated, Hanus whipped two tennis balls and his racket at the wall. He later bit his racket. And throughout the home match, he cried out in exasperation after missing volleys.
Apparently, airing out his emotions was a good strategy.
Hanus came back from the deficit to win for the first time since moving to the Wildcats’ No. 1 singles spot. His 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory led the No. 46 NU men’s tennis team to a 5-2 victory over the No. 57 Hoosiers. With the win, NU (9-3, 4-0 Big Ten) remained at the top of the conference standings.
“I think when I get upset, that’s what forces me into playing well,” Hanus said.
Serving up aces and winning long volleys, Hanus defeated the Czech-born senior Rakvica while entertaining the spectators at Combe Tennis Center.
“Tommy plays off his emotions a lot,” freshman Chuck Perrin said. “If that’s what helps him play better, then that’s awesome for the team.”
The Cats began the meet by taking the doubles point, which head coach Paul Torricelli stressed to his team last week.
“It’s a really big point,” Perrin said. “If we don’t win, then we don’t have a lot of momentum to go out and win four of six singles.”
In the No. 1 doubles spot, Hanus and partner Russell Bennett won their match 8-6 over Indiana’s Rakvica and Zach Held. The Cats’ No. 2 duo of junior Josh Axler and senior Ryan Edlefsen added another 8-6 victory, beating Ryan Recht and Ari Widlansky. Edlefsen replaced Axler’s regular partner, senior Joost Hol, who is focusing on his singles play while recovering from a back injury.
Indiana returned from the five-minute break between doubles and singles play wearing different uniforms. But if the Hoosiers thought wearing polo shirts instead of T-shirts would give them the boost they needed to come back and win, they were wrong.
By the end of the afternoon, the boys of Bloomington, Ind., fell to 6-4 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
A win in doubles action wasn’t enough for Axler, who beat Recht 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.
“I held my serve, there wasn’t much other strategy,” Axler said. “It was a tight match, but once I got a break, I was able to win.”
In his return, Hol won the second singles point for NU in the No. 6 spot. Indiana’s Jullien Vulliez, who hails from France, fell to Hol 6-2, 6-3.
Senior Jamie Sahara clinched the Cats’ ninth win of the season. In the No. 3 spot, he beat Held 6-2, 6-4, despite Held’s comeback from a 5-1 deficit in the second set.
Fans encouraged the NU players throughout the event, out-shouting the few Indiana supporters who didn’t start cheering until near the end of the meet. Cheers of “Jackie, go to your happy place,” and “You can’t stop Jackie Jenkins, you can only hope to contain him” drifted down from the balcony during NU junior Jackie Jenkins’ 7-5, 4-6, 5-7 loss to Tom Bagnato.
Throughout the nearly four-hour meet, competition was closer than the final score indicated. The Hoosiers consistently rallied from behind, but the Cats usually held on to their early-set leads.
Hanus, for one, knew not to underestimate his opponent.
“(Rakvica) didn’t seem like a strong doubles player during his match, but he’s known for his singles,” he said. “I knew he’d come out strong. I did what I had to do.”
