Tennis players from around the US took part in an annual tournament in Manitowoc over the weekend.
The 25th Annual Brutal Wear Open Tennis Championship took place at Lincoln Park and included 32 singles players and at least 10 team doubles.
Lakeshore Screen Printing and Embroidery Owner Craig Schultz explains to Seehafernews.com that Brutal Wear was supposed to be a clothing line made in conjunction with the tournament.
While the clothing line didn’t turn out, the tournament has become one of the only prize-moneyed tournaments in the Midwest.
The tennis tournament has seen a lot of players.
“We’ve had players from all over the world,” he explained. “I would say our claim to fame was in 2007, Michael Venus won the tournament. He’s been top three or four in the world for doubles over the last 10 to 15 years. He won the French Open. I think he had a rating in the 60s for singles.”
This year, several professional and collegiate athletes made the trip to the lakeshore to try and win some money, including IU Indianapolis player Cameron Cryscio.
The Menomonee Falls High School grad wasn’t sure if he’d play in Manitowoc but decided to make the trip before heading back to Indiana.
He says he felt like he was playing better over the weekend.
“Recently I struggled like a little bit this summer, just with playing, haven’t played my best,” he admitted. “And this tournament I’ve been playing better. And yesterday in my second match I just felt very calm when I was playing and that was, I feel like was a good moment for me.”
Felix Corwin plays professionally and has traveled everywhere from Europe to South America, playing in the countries of Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina.
He says those countries have been the most fun to play in.
“You got really big crowds and stuff,” he noted. “So, it’s a big part of the culture down there, so, it was pretty cool playing in front of crowds. And especially against their hometown guys. I might have been the enemy, but it was cool to play where there is so much passion in the crowd.”
Doubles player Chris Morris played in the tournament before and was excited to return to Manitowoc.
“It’s a great tournament,” he stated. “You get to see a lot of guys that you don’t get to see on a day-to-day basis. (I’ve) been able to play players that have played professionally and just being able to see where your game is.”
In the end, Corwin, a 1 seed, and 2-seeded Kyle McNally remained ahead in the finals yesterday, but the number one seed pulled through in an incredible 3-set match with the score of 6-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Later yesterday, the number one doubles team of Morris and McNally defeated the number 2 seed team of Colin Meixl and Jordan Verbauwhede with the score of 6-1, 7-6.
Corwin comes from Elk Grove, WI, and is ranked 881 in the world, but had a ranking of 479 in the world in 2021.
