This morning, the ITA posted the selections for the ITA Conference Masters, where one representative from each eligible conference will face off in Rome, Georgia for a chance to earn a bid in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships.
Conferences each have their own way of selecting who gets the singular bid. Smaller conferences typically host a singles and doubles conference championship event, such the Ivy League which had theirs last weekend, while the big conferences typically use a committee-based system.
Reference the full list here. Below are the Power Four selections + Ivy:
Men’s singles:
ACC – Alex Razeghi (Stanford) (23)
Big Ten – Rudy Quan (UCLA) (49)
Big 12 – Niksa Arsic (Texas Tech)
SEC – Bryan Hernandez Cortes (Mississippi State) (61)
Ivy League – Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (Cornell)
Women’s singles:
ACC – Alexis Nguyen (UNC)
Big Ten – Reese Miller (Michigan) (50)
Big 12 – Kyoka Kubo (Kansas)
SEC – Linea Bajraliu (Georgia)
Ivy League – Gayathri Krishnan (Columbia)
Men’s doubles:
ACC – Ilyas Fahim/Carson Baker (Virginia Tech)
Big Ten – Emil Matikainen/Marcus Shoeman (Penn State)
Big 12 – Niksa Arsic/Thiago Guglieri (Texas Tech) (86)
SEC – TBD
Ivy League – Aleksandar Mitric/Simeon Stankovic (Princeton)
Women’s doubles:
ACC – Alexis Nguyen/Ava Manning (UNC)
Big Ten – Jessica Bernales/Olivia Center (UCLA)
Big 12 – Kyoka Kubo/Polina Koneva (Kansas)
SEC – Riley Crowder/ Sarah Victoria Majesty Nita (Ole Miss)
Ivy League – Peyton Capuano/ Michela Moore (Dartmouth)
With all that, there are some interesting storylines to follow. Obviously, the top two players in the ACC on the men’s side, No. 1 Dylan Dietrich (Virginia) and No. 13 Mees Rottgering (Wake Forest) are opting out of playing the fall as they have missed their window for qualification for NCAAs. The Conference Masters was the last opportunity for such players to get into the field. Dietrich is forfeiting the opportunity to have been a winner in the singles, doubles and team championships all at once.
Other players effectively skipping out on the fall: No. 2 Paul Inchauspe (Princeton), No. 3 Duncan Chan (TCU), No. 4 Max Dahlin (Michigan), No. 3 newcomer Daniil Ostapenkov (LSU), among others.
On the women’s side, No. 1 Luccaina Perez (Texas A&M), No. 4 Teah Chavez (Ohio State), No. 5 Aysegul Mert (Georgia), No. 8 Cadence Brace (LSU), No. 9 Evialina Laskevich (Oklahoma), among other top players will not make it to NCAAs.
Based on a new rule implemented this season, no bye will be awarded for the extra spot in the draw as there are 31 eligible conferences. Based on a lottery system, the extra spot was granted to the A-10 for men’s singles, MAC for women’s singles, ASUN for men’s doubles and Big Ten for women’s doubles.
The Conference Masters will take place in Rome, Georgia at the Rome Tennis Center Nov. 5-8, with four tickets to punch in singles and two to punch in doubles into the NCAA Championships.
