By Sally Milano, USTA.com
Six of the top college players in the country have been selected to represent the U.S. at the world's most prestigious international college team event – the 2016 Master’U BNP Paribas International Collegiate Team Competition.
The Master'U tournament will take place Dec. 1-4 in Marcq-en-Baroeul, France, and will feature college teams from eight countries: Belgium, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Russia and the U.S.
Team USA has dominated the Master'U BNP Paribas in recent years, winning five consecutive titles and championships in six of the last seven years.
Two-time defending USTA/ITA National Indoors champion Francesca Di Lorenzo, a sophomore from Ohio State, women's collegiate No. 1 Hayley Carter, a senior from North Carolina, and Riviera/ITA All-American Championships finalist Ena Shibahara, a freshman from UCLA, are the U.S. women who will compete in France.
No. 5-ranked Christopher Eubanks, a junior from Georgia Tech, No. 6 Tom Fawcett (pictured above), a junior from Stanford who was a member of the 2015 U.S. team, and two-time All-Big Ten selection Strong Kirchheimer, a senior from Northwestern, will play for the men.
Boise State men’s coach Greg Patton, who has led Team USA eight of the nine years the U.S. has competed in the Master'U competition, and Ohio State women’s coach Melissa Schaub have been named coaches for the team.
Past collegians who competed for the U.S. in the Master’U competition include Steve Johnson, Irina Falconi, Austin Krajicek, Maria Sanchez, Mackenzie McDonald and Danielle Collins.
“Master’U is effectively the Davis Cup and Fed Cup of collegiate tennis,” said USTA Collegiate Tennis Director Stephen Amritraj. “We’re excited to have another strong group of players on this year’s Team USA, going for a ‘six-peat.’”
Each team match consists of two men’s and two women’s singles matches, one women’s and one men’s doubles match and a mixed doubles match.
Complete results from all three days can be found by visiting the Master’U BNP Paribas website.