What a Weekend for Tripp Tuff

NOTRE DAME, IND. – What a terrific time Tripp Tuff had the last three days at Notre Dame.

The intrepid graduate student from Watermill, N.Y. culminated a perfect singles weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational winning all four of his matches en route to being selected for the Bobby Bayliss All-Tournament Team.

After taking down high-caliber opponents from Marquette and Michigan State twice the previous two days, Tuff finished up with a flourish on Sunday beating Notre Dame's Yu Zhang 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(4).

Tuff left the land of Touchdown Jesus with a perfect 4-0 mark in singles and 1-1 in doubles teaming with freshman Matteo Iaquinto---who by the way was 3-1 in singles.

"Tripp simply had an amazing weekend of tennis," said DePaul coach Matt Brothers. "He was unstoppable.

"And, I just found out today that both Tripp and Luuk Wassenaar got moved into the pre-qualifying round of the prestigious ITA All-American Championship beginning Oct. 2 in Tulsa, Okla. Nationally ranked Vito Tonejc had already been selected for qualifying singles."

Tonejc defeated Maxime Mareschal-Hay of Cleveland State in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 to finish 3-1 in singles while Wassenaar didn't need a third set either after a 6-1, 7-6(10) decision over Marquette's Ian Brady. Wassenaar went 2-0 in singles at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.

Iaquinto won his third match of the weekend downing Shaddy Khalafallah of Marquette 6-4, 6-2. Jona Gitschel completed the Blue Demons' 5-3 day on the singles courts with a 6-1, 1-6, 1-0(8) win over Marquette's Nathan Balthozer.

The "Band of Brothers'" winning percentage Sunday was even higher in doubles, bringing home Ws in three of the four matches.

Tonejc and Jakic bested Michigan's Alexander Zederbauer and Patorn Hanchukail 6-2. Wassenaar and Huck eased past Cleveland State's Juan Abboud and Austin Staiger 6-2. Lars Peder Minsaas and Gitschel topped Nathan Balthozer and Elijah Zifferblatt of Marqette 6-3.

That meant the Blue Demons bid farewell to the Invitational after racking up an overall record of 8-4 Sunday in singles and doubles.

They will shoot for a repeat performance next weekend at the MSU Invite in East Lansing, Michigan.

Notre Dame Invitational
Sept. 26, 2021
Notre Dame, Ind.
All-Tournament Team
Presley Thieneman, Northwestern (Most Outstanding Player)
Tripp Tuff, DePaul
Jean-Marc Malkowski, Notre Dame
Patorn Hanchukail, Michigan
Kade Mindry, Cleveland State

Singles
Vito Tonejc (DePaul) def. Maxime Mareschal-Hay (Cleveland State) 6-4, 6-2
Tripp Tuff (DePaul) def. Yu Zhang (Notre Dame) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(4)
Luuk Wassenaar (DePaul) def. Ian Brady (Marquette) 6-1, 7-6(10)
Matteo Iaquinto (DePaul) def. Shaddy Khalafallah (Marquette) 6-4, 6-2
Jona Gitschel (DePaul) def. Nathan Balthozer (Marquette) 6-1, 1-6, 1-0(8)
Brogan Pierce (W. Michigan) def. Leon Huck (DePaul) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(4)
Joaquin Caballer (W. Michigan) def. Sven Moser (DePaul) 6-1, 6-3
Jean-Marc Malkowski (Notre Dame) def. Marino Jakic (DePaul) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
Tonejc/Jakic (DePaul) def. Zederbauer/Hanchukail (Michigan) 6-2
Wassenaar/Huck (DePaul) def. Abboud/Staiger (Cleveland State) 6-2
Minsaas/Gitschel (DePaul) def. Balthozer/Zifferblatt (Marquette) 6-3
Campbell/Portnoy (Michigan State) def. Iaquinto/Tuff (DePaul) 6-4

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jona Gitschel

Leon Huck

Matteo Iaquinto

Marino Jakic

Lars Peder Minsaas

Sven Moser

Vito Tonejc

Tripp Tuff

Luuk Wassenaar

DePaul University Athletics