Bloomington area boys tennis players to watch, team outlooks for 2024

Six weeks is all they have.

The boys tennis season goes by as fast as an Andy Roddick serve, so let's take a quick look at the Bloomington area's three teams heading into the 2024 season that will conclude with the beginning of the Bloomington North Sectional, which also includes Brown County and Owen Valley, on Oct. 1:

Bloomington North

HEAD COACH: Ken Hydinger, 17th season. RETURNING STARTERS: Brady Murphy, So. (singles); Esteban Crespo, Sr. (doubles); Ben Konisky, So. (doubles).

OUTLOOK: Graduation took the top singles and doubles spots, so a bit of a rebuild is in the works, but Hydinger appears to have a lot of competition for those spots. Murphy (who missed the opener) will take over the top spot while Crespo, Konisky and freshman Devin Chopra are battling for the singles spots. "Brady has worked very hard and played in a bunch of tournaments," Hydinger said. "He's picked his game up a lot. He's looking like he's got that spot. Chopra is a very experienced freshman coming in and he'll be able to be competitive right off the bat. Ben's a strong player and Estebon is one of the more talented players on the team. He's got good touch and feel. I've got four really good singles players and one of them might play doubles, so it's a work in progress."

The opener saw seniors Krishil Patel, who filled a sectional spot when Brady was injured last year, and Leo Yonkman at No. 1 doubles and juniors Ramsey Mills and Hersh Patel at No. 2. Others for Hydinger to keep an eye on include senior Aiden Shinn, juniors Aiken Urbanski, Kelton O'Connell and Chris Estivill and sophomore Noah Johnson. "I'm sure it's a competitive situation," Hydinger said. "They can all play well, it's who can keep their head in tough situations. It's finding out how guys match up and compete. A lot of them don't have experience in a varsity lineup."

Bloomington South

HEAD COACH: Matt Corry, 9th season. RETURNING STARTERS: David Ciucu, Sr. (singles); Alex Busch, Jr. (singles); Josh Sang, Jr. (doubles); Abe Corry, So. (doubles); William Liao, So. (doubles).

OUTLOOK: The defending sectional champs have a strong core of returning players but the final lineup may not look anything like last year. The Panthers have some depth this year, so Corry will have a chance to try out different combinations. Starting the year, Ciucu and Busch have been paired to form a top-notch No. 1 doubles team, while Corry has been paired with Sang and Liao, at No. 2 doubles. The singles lineup has freshman Caleb Lian, younger brother of former Panther standout Chris, at the top. He's been around the program and he's a fierce competitor, Corry said. Junior Silas Ellett has been at No. 3 singles. Looking to crack the lineup is junior Connor Couch, who earned some varsity time last year and has improved as well.

"They've continued to work on their games year-round," Corry said. "So I'm excited to try some of them at doubles and some at singles to be ready for what the team needs. Players can get stuck in positions year-to-year but things change." Corry knows that all too well seeing injuries constantly change his lineup last year, yet they persevered to win a sectional title. "We're fortunate to have eight players," he said. "It's a short season but it seems like you're always trying to get through the finish line with injuries. I'm excited about the depth we have."

Edgewood

HEAD COACH: John Kerr, 2nd season. RETURNING STARTERS: Andrew Paul, Jr. (singles); Jaylin Luedemann, Sr. (doubles); Dane Weisner, Sr. (doubles).

OUTLOOK: There are six seniors overall to lead a group of 13 that includes five freshmen. Paul handled No. 1 singles last year and ended the season by picking up a postseason win to earn a spot in the singles tourney after Edgewood was eliminated. He'll be one of the county's top players again. Weisner was a part of the top doubles team last year but opened at No. 2 singles this year, while Luedemann played 2 doubles and moves up to the top team, paired with senior Cam Abel. Senior Austin Nunn started at No. 3 singles and the No. 2 doubles team was senior Carter Walker and freshman Ryne Klinger.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington area boys tennis players to watch, team outlooks for 2024