Men’s Tennis

Though Northwestern junior Konrad Zieba may not even headline his own program’s singles rotation, he’ll be the lone representative at the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, beginning Thursday.

The event is held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York, which annually houses the US Open.

Unlike many in the 32-player field in which he finds himself after earning an exclusive bid, Zieba enters the tournament without a national rank. As such, he’ll face an uphill battle when he takes the floor, first on Thursday against No. 107 Max Hinnisdaels of Auburn.

However, Zieba faced great odds simply to qualify for the tournament, which he did with a run to the quarterfinals in early October’s ITA All-American Championships. Not only did the NU junior have to defeat several ranked players to reach the round of 16, but he first had to qualify for the main draw after being placed in the qualifying bracket initially.

With plenty of experience as an underdog, Zieba — who acknowledged that the upcoming tournament is among the year’s toughest — is unfazed by the challenge ahead.

“I feel like I can compete with anyone regardless of the ranking,” he said. “It doesn’t really have an effect.”

Barring changes to the bracket, Zieba would have to face the tournament’s top seed, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Virginia, in the second round if both escape the first. Not only is Kwiatkowski ranked eighth nationally, but he is also the player who knocked Zieba out in the quarterfinals of the All-Americans.

Nonetheless, coach Arvid Swan has confidence that his player is up to the task.

“Konrad’s been outstanding. … He’s one of the best players in college tennis,” Swan said. “It’s a really strong field, but he has high expectations and so do we. So (I’m) just looking forward to seeing him compete against some of the better players in college tennis.”

The singles tournament features the top players from across the nation, all of whom — aside from a select few wild cards — had to earn their selection by winning their respective regional tournament, winning the National Small College Super Bowl, or reaching the quarterfinals of the All-Americans. One could also qualify by winning the latter tournament’s consolation championship.

Other NU singles stars came close to earning a bid, but ultimately fell short. Junior Sam Shropshire, ranked 34th in the country, fell in the consolation championship of the All-Americans. Junior Strong Kirchheimer, ranked 120th, was dispatched from the Midwest Regional Championships in the semifinals.

Zieba, who played behind Shropshire and Kirchheimer last season, will become the first NU player to represent the Cats at the National Indoor Championships in a long while, when he hits the court at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

“I want to do as best as possible,” Zieba said. “You know, I think this is a great step for our program. We haven’t had anyone in this tournament for 10, 20 years now, so I think it’s a great opportunity.”

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Twitter: @GarrettJochnau