College tennis opening weekend has arrived, and there are a few big matchups to look out for as the draws narrow down heading into Saturday and Sunday.
Unlike team season where the onlooker seeks the most cohesive constellation of tennis players, fall season follows the formula of professional tennis where the individual stars battle to see who shines the brightest.
There are plenty of stars taking to the college tennis courts this weekend.
Milwaukee Tennis Classic
A number of top men and women have made the trip to Milwaukee for the 50th annual MTC from schools including TCU, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, UNC-CH, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Illinois.
Top men include No. 21 Cooper Woestendick and No. 80 Maximus Dussault from TCU, and No. 10 newcomer Igor Kudriashov.
Top women include Anna Frey and Alanis Hamilton of UNC.
Saturday, September 12 – Men at Western*; Women at Nicolet*
· 8 AM – Doubles Quarterfinals Followed by Semifinals (last of three guaranteed doubles matches)
· Followed by (~10:30 AM) – Singles Quarterfinals
· Followed by (~2 PM) – Singles Semifinals (last of four guaranteed singles matches)
Sunday, September 13 – All Finals at Western Racquet Club
· 9 AM – Men’s and Women’s Doubles Final
· Followed by (~10 AM) – Women’s Singles Final**
· Followed by (~12 PM) – Men’s Singles Final**
Kitty Harrison Invitational
If you’re interested in high level women’s tennis this weekend, Kitty Harrison is where you want to be. The likes of Georgia, Michigan, Duke, and Carolina face off, with most bringing their top singles player.
Top players include No. 5 Aysegul Mert (Georgia), No. 6 Piper Charney (Michigan), No. 21 Tatum Evans (UNC), No. 32 Vivian Yang (Virginia) and No. 58 Liv Hovde (Duke).
Weekend Schedule: Doubles at 9 a.m., singles from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. with top matches to start first.
Orange and Blue Invitational
Most of Virginia’s top talent takes on the field at home, coming off of a national championship title — Jangjun Kim, Luca Preda, Andres Santamarta Roig, Stiles Brockett. Unfortunately, no No. 1 Dylan Dietrich. Nevertheless, it should be a nice show of talent from the Hoos.
On the Horizon…
ITA All Americans
Men’s and women’s ITA All American Championships take place next week, Sept. 19-27. All Americans from last season will battle it out with spots in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship draws on the line.
Wildcards were announced last week:
Women: Emma Dong (Georgia), Mimi Xu (Duke), Amara Brahmbhatt (Michigan State), Lillie Murphy (Furman)
Men: Roger Pascual (TCU), Ilia Snitari (Texas A&M), Callum Markowitz (Penn)
Battle in the Bay
The Battle in the Bay should showcase college talent out on the West Coast, Sept. 30 – Oct. 4. Participating schools include Cal, UCLA, Stanford, TCU, Pepperdine, Boise State, UC San Diego, USC, Michigan, Michigan State, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Texas, UCSB and Arizona State.
