Northwestern University Athletics
Tommy Hanus Named Big Ten Freshman of the Year
4/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 26, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern men's tennis player Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) has been named the 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The announcement was made by the conference Thursday.
Hanus is the only freshman in the conference to play at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles. He has amassed a 20-11 record since September, including a 13-8 mark in dual matches. Hanus' doubles record stands at 17-10, and as one half of the "Illinois Connection" he has been partnered with Russell Bennett (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) since February.
Hanus also started the dual-match season with an eight-match win streak and garnered a No. 118 ranking in the April 3 edition of the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings.
Two key wins for the freshman this season were against Aaron Talarico of then-No. 7 Notre Dame (7-6, 6-2) and 56th-ranked Vedran Vidovic of No. 24 Indiana State (2-6, 6-2, 6-4). Three of Hanus' last four matches have been against players ranked in the Top 25 nationally.
"This is well deserved, a real honor for Tommy," head coach Paul Torricelli said. "It is a tribute to him as a freshman to step in, play that high and have such a terrific year, and to be recognized by the coaches like that."
With this honor, Hanus follows in the footsteps of other notable Wildcats. In 1990, Todd Martin was the first NU player to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Martin, currently a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, went on to a successful professional tennis career after his sophomore season. Marc Silva, who also went on to join the professional tour, earned the award in 1997.
Northwestern plays Purdue Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Championship.
