Nov. 11, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue freshman Sounak Chatterjee was the winningest Boiler as the Big Ten Men's Indoor Tennis Championships continued at the Michigan State Tennis Facility Sunday. Although four Boilers battled their way through the singles main bracket, Chatterjee was the only Boiler to survive play in the 7-8 bracket on the last day.
Chatterjee, who won the first and second-rounds of the 7-8 bracket on Saturday, needed to defeat Mike Jonckheere of Michigan State in the Quarterfinals to continue play in the Semifinals round on Sunday.
After a first-round bye on Saturday, Chatterjee defeated Penn State's Jim Crowell 6-3, 6-1 and advanced to face Mike Jonckheere of Michigan State on Sunday. The Boiler defeated the Spartan as he cruised passed him with a score of 6-1, 6-3. Chatterjee then faced Anthony Stefani of Michigan State in the Semifinals round and swept passed the Spartan.
Purdue coach Tim Madden is looking forward to bigger and better things for the freshman.
"He played very decisive tennis, he has been getting better and better each week this semester," Madden said. "He's going to be a nice addition to the line-up for next spring, it's nice to see a freshman really grow in terms of confidence."
After advancing to the round of 16 in the main draw on Saturday, Purdue sophomore Troy Havens, and seeded juniors Andrew Wakefield (No.7) and Scott Mayer (No. 10) did not meet with similar success in the second day of competition.
Opening play at 8 a.m.on Sunday, Mayer faced Thomas Hanus of Northwestern in the third-round and lost to the Wildcat 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Wakefield defeating Penn State's Todd Stecko 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3 in the second-round of play on Saturday, but lost to Avery Ticer of Minnesota in the third-round on Sunday. Ticer stopped Wakefield from advancement by defeating him 7-6(4), 6-3. Havens faced No.9 seed Alexsey Zharinov of Minnesota and lost to the Golden Gopher 6-3, 6-3 in the third-round as well.
"Our goal was to play with a competitive edge and get the spirit back into competition, but we failed to get any real upsets," Madden said. "Most of our players did what they were supposed to do, no more, no less."
In other action, senior Derek Miller vied for a win against Penn State's Todd Stecko in the singles consolation bracket. The Boiler failed to win and lost 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in the second-round of play on Sunday.
Action from the Big Ten Indoor Championships will conclude Monday with main draw semifinals and consolation semifinals at 9 a.m. Finals are scheduled for noon. All matches will take place at the Indoor Tennis Facility on Mount Hope Road.
Full results can be found at www.msuspartans.com.
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