SKILLMAN, N.J. -- The nation's top men's and women's collegiate tennis players will be competing in the ITA National Indoor Championships starting Thursday, Nov. 5. This year's event is hosted by Yale University and will take place Nov. 5-8 at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Conn. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Championships are the second of three national tournaments for singles and doubles during the collegiate tennis season.
These championships feature a 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles field for men and women, including: champions from Wilson/ITA Regional Championships held across the country during October, the ITA National Small College champions, the winners of the D'Novo/ITA Men's All-American Tennis Championships and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, and at-large and wild-card selections made by the ITA National Tournament Committee.
"The ITA is thrilled that our ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Singles and Doubles Championships will be the first National collegiate tennis championship ever hosted by Yale University," said Executive Director David A Benjamin. "We've heard wonderful things about the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center and know that all of our varsity student-athletes are looking forward greatly to participating in this event."
The participants of the 2009 championships included some of the best and brightest players in college tennis. The top eight men's and women's singles seeds for this week's championships are as follows:
Men's Singles:
J.P. Smith - Tennessee
Oleksandr Nedovyesov - Oklahoma State
Robert Farah - USC
Andrei Daescu - Oklahoma
Steve Johnson - USC
Dimitar Kutrovsky - Texas
Sanam Singh - Virginia
Bradley Klahn - Stanford
Women's Singles:
Maria Mosolova - Northwestern
Irina Falconi - Georgia Tech
Chelsey Gullickson - Georgia
Jana Juricova - California
Caitlin Whoriskey - Tennessee
Allie Will - Florida
Denise Dy - Washington
Venise Chan - Washington
The top four doubles seeds for this week's championships are as follows:
Men's Doubles:
1. J.P. Smith/Davey Sandgren - Tennessee
2. Oleksandr Nedovyesov/Aleksey Bessonov - Oklahoma State
3. Ryan Thacher/Bradley Klahn - Stanford
4. Moritz Baumann/Marek Michalicka - Wisconsin
Women's Doubles:
1. Caitlin Whoriskey/Natalie Pluskota - Tennessee
2. Hilary Barte/Lindsay Burdette - Stanford
3. Mari Andersson/Jana Juricova - California
4. Andrea Remynse/Yasmin Schnack - UCLA
This event was inaugurated in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women, and past champions and finalists include current professionals Benjamin Becker (Baylor), James Blake (Harvard), Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford), Laura Granville (Stanford), John Isner (Georgia), Kevin Kim (UCLA) and Lisa Raymond (Florida). Big Ten legends and Grand Slam finalists Todd Martin (Northwestern) and MaliVai Washington (Michigan) are also among the past champions.
Schedule of Play:
Thurs., Nov. 5 - 1st Round Doubles and 1st Round Singles
Fri., Nov. 6 - QF Doubles and 2nd Round and QF Singles
Sat., Nov. 7 - SF Doubles and Singles
Sun., Nov. 8 - Championship Matches
Notes:
- Mandatory consolation draws for first-round losers (consolation starts on Friday, consolation draws are redrawn and reseeded).
- Doubles are played first.
- Matches will begin at 9 a.m. on Nov. 5.
For complete coverage of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, visit www.ITAtennis.com.