On Aug. 11, senior tennis player Eliot Potvin finished runner-up in the ITA/USTA National Summer Championship. Potvin entered the tournament as the No. 2 overall seed behind Daniel Stahl of Notre Dame.
The ITA/USTA National Summer Championships are the pinnacle of the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, which was played at 32 regional sites throughout the country in July. A total of 2,965 players participated in ITA Summer Circuit events this year, falling just short of 2009’s record-breaking mark of 2,976.
Potvin managed to defeat three quality opponents en route to a championship game appearance.
In his first match, Potvin narrowly defeated Nicholas Volz of IUPUI in a tiebreaker. Potvin handedly defeated Volz in the first set, 6-2, but Volz answered in the second set, winning 6-3. Potvin went on to close out the match by winning 10 points in the tiebreaker.
Potvin’s second match was not nearly as close as his first, as Potvin defeated Andrew Kahn of DePuaw in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
In the quarterfinals, Potvin faced his toughest opponent of the tournament thus far in TCU’s Christopher Price. Price kept the match close, but Potvin proved worthy of his high ranking, defeating Price 6-4, 7-5.
ACC foe and No. 5 Patrick Daciek from Virginia Tech was waiting for Potvin in the semifinals, but Daciek needed a grueling three-set match in the quarterfinals to get there. Potvin took advantage of Daciek’s tired legs and defeated him 7-6, 6-1.
Potvin’s win put him into the finals against Indiana’s own Thomas Richter.
Potvin managed to win four games against Richter, but Richter proved to be too strong, winning 6-3, 6-1.
“I’m very happy with the way things went in these tournaments. I had rested my ankle from the beginning of the summer… and the guy that beat me in the finals in Indy was a very good player,” Potvin said courtesy of Ramblinwreck.com.
Potvin recorded a great season for Tech as a junior going 22-13 in singles play, and his success in this tournament looks to bode well for the Jackets next season, as he should form a formidable duo with senior Guillermo Gomez.