24-25 Shocker Men's Tennis

[1972Shocker]

Friday, October 18

Singles Main Draw - Round of 32
Luke Bracks 12.3 (WSU) vs. Calvin Mueller 4.9 [#1 Seed] (Nebraska) - Bracks loses 2-6, 4-6. As expected but not a bad effort against the #1 seed.
Kristof Minarik 8.1 (WSU) vs. Timothy Seger 7.8 [#15 Seed] (Tulsa) - 7-5, 4-6. 6-3. Kristof moves on to the Round of 16.

(Minarik and his Tulsa opponent had quite a battle. But when I tuned in to the Live Stream to check on the match Kristof was down 0-3 in the 3rd. As the score indicates he ran off 6 straight games to close his match out. The Tulsa guy looked like maybe he ran out of gas at end of the match or Kristof just demoralized him with his shot-making which was excellent over the final 5 games. Kristof seems to be far and away the most mentally tough of the Shockers. Kristof's oppentent in the Round of 16 is Michael Kouame of Memphis who knocked of the #2 seed 7-5, 6-1 in the Round of 32. Kouame is very rangy, athletic player.)

Singles Main Draw - Round of 16
Kristof Minarik 8.1 (WSU) vs. Michael Kouame 10.5 (Memphis) - Minarik loses 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.

Doubles - Round of 16
Minarik 6.9/Jacome 13.5 [#13 Seed] (WSU) vs Filho 22.8/Couy 21.3 (ORU) - Minarik/Jacome cruise to an 8-2 win.

Luke probably has no chance to advance against the #1 seed short of a withdrawal. Kristof, OTOH, has a legit shot to move on to the singles round of 16.

It would be disappointing if the Minarik/Jacome duo does not advance to the doubles quarterfinals. Not dissapointed.

Not sure if any of the other guys will be playing additional consolation or extra matches.

Update: There is a singles consolation draw:

Singles Consolation Draw - Round of 32
Vanja Hodzic 9.3 (WSU) vs. Jose Fernandez-Frias -- (Tulsa) - Hodzic loses 4-6, 6-4, 5-7.
Alejandro Jacome 9.3 (WSU) vs.Mikhail Korkunov 11.1 (Omaha) - Jacome loses 3-6, 4-6. His 2nd loss to a lower-rated player.
Arenui Luethi 12.7 (WSU) vs. Parv Nage 14.1 (ORU) - Luethi loses 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.
Luca Mindrut 14.8 (WSU) vs. Hank Trondson 10.8 (Oklahoma) - Mindrut lose 3-6, 1-6
Ilias Worthington 11.6 (Wichita State) vs. Ty Wunderlich 11.5 (Oklahoma State) - Worthington loses 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (5-7).

Not a banner day for the Shocks. 1-7 in singles making them 6-12 in singles for the tournament.

[1972Shocker]

Saturday - October 19th

Doubles - Quarterfinals
Minarik 6.9/Jacome 13.5 [#13 Seed] (WSU) vs Monsi 5.6/Trondson 13.1 [#8 Seed] (Oklahoma) - Minarik/Jacome win 8-6. Move on to the Semifinals.oou

Doubles - Semifinals
Minarik 6.9/Jacome 13.5 [#13 Seed] (WSU) vs Becroft 7.3/Basile 6.4 [#3 Seed] (Oklahoma State) - Minarik/Jacome loss 2-6, 6-3, 10-6 STB. Really good effort by Kristof and Alejandro.

[1972Shocker]

Sunday - October 20th

Singles - Extra Matches
Vanja Hodzic 9.3 (WSU) vs. Lars Johann 9.0 (Nebraska) - Hodzic loses 2-6, 2-6.
Alejandro Jacome 9.3 (WSU) vs. Ethan Terry 13.1 (North Dakota) - Jaccome wins 6-4, 6-1.
Arenui Luethi 12.7 (WSU) vs. Colson Wells 12.6 (Nebraska - Luethi wins 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Luca Mindrut 14.8 (WSU) vs. Calum Jestin 14.9 (Tulsa) - Mindrut wins 7-6 (11-9), 7-5
Ilias Worthington 11.6 (Wichita State) vs. Will Pellegrini 12.4 (Tulsa) - Worthington loses 1-6, 1-6.
Luke Bracks 12.3 (WSU) vs. Gus Tettamble 12.8 (Tulsa) - Bracks wins 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 6-3.

Shocks go 4-2 in the Extra Matches. Takes their singles record for the tournament to 10-14.

[1972Shocker]

MTEN Preview: AAC Individual Championships

The Wichita State men's tennis team is sending their standout duo of Alejandro Jacome and Kristof Minarik to Rice's George R. Brown Tennis Center to compete in the 2024 AAC Individual Championships October 24-27.

Tennis players from all 11 American Athletic Conference men's tennis teams will travel to Houston to compete in the championship. Each team is sending two players to compete in singles, as well as one doubles pairing. Jacome and Minarik will compete individually in singles and as a tandem in doubles.

Minarik is seeded ninth in singles and will have a first-round bye. The Shocker duo has earned a bye as the No. 4 seed in doubles.

The singles and doubles champion of each bracket will represent the American Athletic Conference at the 2024 ITA Conference Masters Championship November 7-10 in Rome, Georgia.

Men's Singles - Thursday, October 24 - First Round
Alejandro Jacome 9.3 (WSU) vs. Martim Marujo 11.1 (Temple) | 11 a.m. - Jacome loses 2-6, 6-7 (5-7)
No. 9 Kristof Minarik 8.1 (WSU) - Bye

Men's Singles - Thursday, October 24 - Round of 16
No. 9 Kristof Minarik 8.1 (WSU) vs. John Bernard 8.1 (Florida Atlantic) | 3:30 p.m. - 2-6. 6-4, 6-7 (3-7)
Alejandro Jacome 9.3 (WSU) - Did Not Advance - Drops to Consolation Draw

Men's Doubles - Thursday, October 24 - First Round
No. 4 Kristof Minarik 6.9/Alejandro Jacome 13.5 (WSU) - Bye

The number behind each players name is their International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Number which provides a global standard for players. It is a 40-1 scale, with 40 being a beginner player and 1 being an elite professional. Players have separate ITF World Tennis Numbers for singles and doubles.

[1972Shocker]

Men's Singles - Consolation - Friday, October 25 - Round of 16
No. 9 Kristof Minarik 8.1 (WSU) - Bye
Alejandro Jacome 9.3 (WSU) vs No. 3 Vasco Prata 7.0 (Charlotte) - Alejandro with the upset. Wins 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

Men's Singles - Consolation - Friday, October 25 - Quarterfinals
No. 9 Kristof Minarik 8.1 (WSU) vs Emir Sendogan 8.7 (Rice) - Krisof falls in 3 sets 1-6, 6-4, 4-6
Alejandro Jacome 9.3 (WSU) vs Noah Milage 9.8 (UA) - Alejandro retired due to injury

Men's Doubles - Friday, October 25 - Quarterfinals
No. 4 Kristof Minarik 6.9/Alejandro Jacome 13.5 (WSU) vs No. 5 Pablo Alemany 8.6/Harry Rock 7.4 (Memphis) - Shocks win 8-3.

[SubGod22]

[1972Shocker]

Really great to Kristof Minarik back this year. Whether or not that in and of itself will help the Shocks improve on their 5-18 dual record of last year remains to be seen, but he is playing pretty well. Will need some of the young guys to step up.

Nice win by Alejandro Jacome over the No.3 singles seed in the consolation bracket.

Both Kristof and Alejandro are playing in he consolation bracket quarterfinals this afternoon. Not betting on it but theoretically they could meet up in the Consolation bracket finals.

Update: Alejandro retires in his consolation singles quarterfinals match due to an injury and Kristof also lost his consolation quarterfinals match in 3 sets. The question is does this pretty much end the Shocks run in doubles as well.

[1972Shocker]

Alejandro was able to play in the doubles semifinals today but he and Kristof came up just short against the No. 1 seeds from Charlotte 5-7, 3-6. Whether Alejandro was slowed to any extent from the injury that caused him to retire from his consolation singles match on Friday I can't say.

[1972Shocker]

2024 ITA Men's D-1 Men's Central Sectional - Hosted by TCU

The Wichita State doubles duo of Alejandro Jacome and Kristof Minarik will have an opportunity to punch their ticket to the 2024 NCAA Individual Championships this week at the ITA Central Sectionals at TCU's Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

The Shocker pair qualified for this Sectionals appearance after finishing in the doubles semifinals at the ITA Central Region Championships back in October.

There are three doubles NCAA bids up for grabs in each of the four sectionals throughout the country. The doubles champion, runner-up, and third-place finisher from each section will punch their ticket to the NCAA Individual Championships in Waco, Texas at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center November 19-24.

Men's Doubles - Thursday, November 7th - Round of 16:
Kristof Minarik 6.6/Alejandro Jacome 13.2 (WSU) vs Bryce Nakashima 5.9/William Jansen 9.8 (Ohio State): Shocks fall 3-6,6-4, [5-10 STB]

Men's Doubles - Friday, November 8th - Consolation Quarterfinals:
Kristof Minarik 6.6/Alejandro Jacome 13.2 (WSU) vs Duncan Chan 9.2/Kaj Quirijns 17.7 (TCU): Shocks fall 5-8

I thing this probably brings the fall season competition to an end for the Shocker men.

Getting Kristof Minarik back in the mix is no doubt a big boost for the Shocks. However, not sure they have enough behind him to make a whole lot of difference from last year. A lot will depend on how the freshman and sophomores progress. Might be next year, after we get a year of experience in the books for the younger guys, before the Shocks show significant improvement as a team.

[1972Shocker]

At the Colorado Cup hosted by Denver on the first weekend of November of the 4 Shockers played matches against Denver, AirForce and Penn to finish off their seasons. Kristof Minarik and Alejandro Jacome did not participate as the had the ITC Central Sectional (see above) to prepare for.

In singles play the Shockers the Shockers went 5-9. Ilias Worthington and Luca Mindrut were each 2-2, Luke Bracks was 1-2 and Arenui Leuthi was 0-3.

In doubles the Shocks went 2-5. Ilias and Arenui were 1-3 and Luke and Luca were 1-2.

https://goshockers.com/mens-tennis/2024-25/boxscore/at-colorado-cup/18094/pdf

As I previously mentioned in the previous post, the Shocks, even with the return of Kristof Minarik, may struggle as a team through another season this spring. The Shocks have no seniors, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores and 4 freshman (including 2 foreign players joining the team in the 2nd semester). Will be looking for some individual success from Krsitof both in singles and in doubles (paired up with fellow junior, Alejandro) and hopefully we will see a gradually improving team from the rest of the guys to provide a bit more optimism for next year.