Six of the top college players in the country – Francesca Di Lorenzo of Ohio State, Hayley Carter of North Carolina, Ena Shibahara of UCLA, Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech, Tom Fawcett of Stanford and Strong Kirchheimer of Northwestern – have been selected to represent the U.S. at the the 2016 Master’U BNP Paribas, the world's most prestigious international college team competition, which is taking place Dec. 1-4 in Marcq-en-Baroeul, France. The event features college teams from eight countries: Belgium, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Russia and the U.S.
Boise State men's coach Greg Patton is leading the U.S. team for the eighth time in the last nine years and is being joined at the helm by Ohio State women’s coach Melissa Schaub, as Team USA goes for its sixth straight title and seventh championship in the last eight years. Coach Patton is writing a blog for USTA.com during the team's stay in France. Stay tuned for daily updates.
By Coach Greg Patton, special to USTA.com
We can't wait! Our quest for the "golden grail" of collegiate tennis starts tomorrow morning.
Our team just returned from the Draw Ceremony, and it is an international celebration of tennis. All eight of the nations with their coaching staffs and their six players were present, as well as the dignitaries of the French Tennis Federation and local leaders.
We are pursuing our sixth straight Master'U championship. We have a big target on our backs, and I know that we all are loving it.
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As you are reading this, we will be playing Ireland in the first round. The Irish team is made up of several players who are playing at American universities. The Irish have a talented team and will give us a challenging match.
Our lineup against the Irish will be:
No. 1 women's singles: Francesca Di Lorenza (Ohio State)
No. 2 women's singles: Hayley Carter (North Carolina)
No. 1 men's singles: Tom Fawcett (Stanford)
No. 2 men's singles: Strong Kirchhmeirer (Northwestern)
Women's doubles: Carter/Ena Shibahara (UCLA)
Men's doubles: Chris Eubanks (Georgia Tech)/Tom Fawcett
Mixed doubles: Kirchheimer/Di Lorenza
We are raring to go and hoping to continue the USA's legacy!