Two players have totally taken the field by storm, having not yet dropped a set at ITA All Americans in Tulsa Oklahoma.
Both are into the final, and will face off for the title — TCU’s No. 80 Roger Pascual Ferra and Virginia’s No. 6 Keegan Rice. Coming into the tournament, it seemed to be more about who was not playing: No. 1 Dylan Dietrich, No. 2 Paul Inchauspe, No. 3 Duncan Chan and No. 4 Max Dahlin.
But now, we have our payoff. Unstoppable force versus immovable object. Tournament favorite versus up-and-comer. Who will take the title? We will have to find out.
The stakes of the final are high. But arguably, the stakes are higher for the consolation semifinal matches. Winners of each will earn a bid into the NCAA Singles Championship Nov. 17-22.
Quarterfinalists in the winners bracket have already earned bids into NCAAs:
-Viktor Markov (Clemson)
-Nicolas Arsenault (Kentucky)
-Theo Papamalamis (Texas A&M)
-Roger Pascual Ferra (TCU)
-Dominik Mosejczuk (Wake Forest)
-Maxwell Exsted (USC)
-Nikita Filin (Ohio State)
-Keegan Rice (Virginia)
Consolation bracket semifinal matches include Connor Henry Van Shalkwyk (Baylor) vs. No. 1 newcomer Luca Preda (Virginia) and No. 15 Nasridinov Amirkhamza vs. No. 7 Aidan Kim.
Winners earn a bid into the NCAA Singles Championship draw. For losers, it’s back to the drawing board with more opportunities down the line. Preda has the opportunity to accomplish a very difficult feat: winning six matches in a row for qualification. Preda lost in the first round to eventual finalist Pascual Ferra.
For doubles, it will be an all Ohio State matchup in the final with Carpico/Filin taking on Kim/Nakashima.
Qualifiers in doubles include:
-Carpico/Filin (Ohio State)
-Kudernatsch/Pampanin (Ole Miss)
-Kim/Nakashima (Ohio State)
-Vukadin/Markov (Clemson)
Tiago Pires/Matisse Farzam (Clemson) earned a bid to NCAAs by winning the consolation final.
