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With Plans for 25+ New Tournaments, @OracleTennis Expands its Imprint on US Tennis

Posted by Admin on September 4, 2019
Posted in: ATP, Oracle Challenger, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
oracle kei

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – Sept. 4, 2019 – Oracle announced today the creation of the Oracle Pro Series, a schedule of more than 25 new ATP, WTA and ITF World Tennis Tour professional tournaments to be held across the United States over the course of 2019 and 2020. The Oracle Pro Series will create more than 40 percent new playing opportunities in the United States for tennis professionals.

Nearly all the tournaments will be combined men’s and women’s events with equal prize money ranging from $25,000 to $108,000 per tournament. The six combined tournaments scheduled for the fall of 2019 offer equal prize money of $25,000 and will be played in California, Texas and Florida. The 2019 Oracle Pro Series schedule is as follows:
oracle
October 6 – 13 – The Claremont Club – Los Angeles, Calif.
October 13 – 20 – Baylor University – Waco, Texas
October 20 – 27 – Texas Christian University – Fort Worth, Texas (ATP)
October 20 – 27 – Southern Methodist University – Dallas, Texas (WTA)
November 4 – 10 – Pepperdine University – Malibu, Calif.
November 11 – 17 – USTA National Campus – Orlando, Fla.
November 17 – 24 – Sanchez-Casal Academy – Naples, Fla.

The final schedule for 2020 will include more than 20 tournaments, most of which will be combined events. Locations will be announced later this year.

“At Oracle, we’re looking at this holistically,” said Oracle CEO Mark Hurd. “We want more exposure for tennis at all levels in the United States. All of our efforts, from awards to tournament series to collegiate sponsorships and strategic partnerships, are pieces of an overall plan to raise the quality of American tennis.”

oracle1

In addition to more playing opportunities in the U.S., the Oracle Pro Series will expand the pathway for the next generation of aspiring champions from college tennis up to the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour. The Oracle Pro Series will reward success with immediate access to higher level tournaments by connecting all Oracle events into one merit-based path to the highest levels of international professional tennis.

Oracle is partnering with InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, led by former World No. 1 and Hall of Famer Jim Courier and his business partner Jon Venison, to manage the Oracle Pro Series. InsideOut brings more than 15 years of experience producing live and televised events.

“The Oracle Pro Series is an unprecedented expansion in the number of U.S. professional tournaments and reinforces Oracle’s commitment to advancing the sport,” said Courier. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Oracle to give up-and-coming players more opportunities to compete for prize money, improve their rankings and launch their careers. Together, we will play a big part influencing the future of tennis in the U.S.”

Oracle also supports collegiate tennis through sponsorship of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). This includes hosting several marquee ITA championship events throughout the year such as the Oracle ITA Masters and the Oracle ITA Fall Championships. At the grassroots level, Oracle supports tennis through its strategic partnership with Universal Tennis Rating (UTR). UTR leverages Oracle’s industry leading cloud technology to power its algorithm-based, big-data rating system and digital platform.

Tennis Associations Endorse Oracle Pro Series
“This series of events has been created to provide an unprecedented level of opportunities for aspiring young players to compete and earn the valuable WTA ranking points needed to earn a ranking that will provide them the ability to realize their dreams of playing at the highest levels of the sport.” ~ Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO

“The ATP continues to focus on enhancing and strengthening the ATP Challenger Tour, and we welcome Oracle’s growing involvement at this level of the sport. The Oracle Pro Series will provide increased opportunities for players competing on the pathway to the ATP Tour, and we look forward to seeing the series come to life.”  ~ Ross Hutchins, ATP Chief Player Officer

“We are incredibly excited that Oracle is providing even more opportunities for American players to compete throughout the year, as well as more opportunities for fans to attend professional tennis events throughout the country. These events help develop American talent and serve as a stepping stone for players to reach the highest levels of the game, while at the same time inspire kids across the nation to pick up a racket and play this sport.” ~ Stacey Allaster, USTA Chief Executive, Professional Tennis

—M.  Van Tuinen

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The @TennisHalloFame Hosts @ITA_Tennis Collegiate Team Event on the Grass in Newport

Posted by Admin on September 13, 2016
Posted in: ATP, College Tennis, International Tennis Hall of Fame, ITA, NCAA, Newport. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Newport Problems: Can't get off court because there's players surrounding you

From College Tennis to the Tennis Hall of Fame: Millennials are so Impatient

Tennis Hall of Fame Hosts ITA Collegiate Team Event on the Grass in Newport
The Hall of Fame ITA Grass Court Invitational will draw four men’s teams and four women’s teams for a first of its kind tournament, which is free and open to the public.
NEWPORT, R.I., September 13, 2016 – In a first of its kind event, the International Tennis Hall of Fame has partnered with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) to host a three-day grass court tournament that will draw eight NCAA Division 1 tennis teams to compete on the grass courts of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island this weekend. The Hall of Fame ITA Grass Court Invitational will be held September 16 – 18. The tournament will be free of charge and open to the public, providing a great opportunity for fans to see high-caliber competitive tennis. The tournament will be streamed live on FloTennis – the inaugural broadcast of the ITA’s new partnership with FloSports.
“This is an exciting new event to add to the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s calendar. The objectives of this tournament are multi-faceted. Every day at the Hall of Fame, we strive to inspire the next generation of great tennis champions and very likely, some of them are playing collegiate tennis at this moment. We are delighted to welcome some of the top collegiate players to the Hall of Fame, where they will be immersed in our sport’s rich history and hopefully inspired by the Hall of Famers who are honored here,” said International Tennis Hall of Fame CEO Todd Martin.
He continued, “Additionally, the Hall of Fame is a place where our sport is celebrated every day. Collegiate tennis is an integral part of our sport in so many ways and it is also really exciting to watch. These players are competitive and incredibly talented. They are committed to the sport and to pursuing a higher education. It will be a great event for families with aspiring young players to attend as well as for general tennis fans who are interested in watching some top-notch competitive tennis. For any tennis fans who have been meaning to plan a visit to the museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame – this would be a great weekend to do it.”
Matches will be played on the historic Bill Talbert Stadium Court and on the additional grass courts at the Hall of Fame, all of which have hosted many of the sport’s greatest tennis legends over the years.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for ITA college athletes to compete in a venue that is really special to tennis worldwide, and to learn more about our sport. We are very pleased to be collaborating with the Hall of Fame to make this unique opportunity available to the student-athletes and look forward to growing this partnership in the future,” said Tim Russell, CEO of the ITA.
Eight teams (4 women’s and 4 men’s) will compete in a flighted singles and doubles round robin format, playing for individual ITA Ranking Points. Following is a list of participating teams, listed with their national ITA ranking, based on the standings at the end of the 2015-2016 seasons.
Men’s Teams:
University of Virginia, No. 1
Texas Christian University, No. 3
University of Michigan, No. 25
Princeton, No. 52
Women’s Teams:
University of California, No. 2
Oklahoma State, No. 8
Georgia Tech, No. 16
Harvard University, No. 55
 The Hall of Fame ITA Grass Court Invitational will be held September 16 – 18 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. The event is free of charge and open to the public, providing a great opportunity for fans to see high-caliber competitive tennis. During the event days, admission to the museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame will be reduced to $8 from the standard $15, making it a great time for tennis fans to visit. Admission to the museum for kids ages 16 & under is always free.
–A. McLaughlin, Hall of Fame

Tennis Atlantic’s 2016 @ITA College Tennis Conference Power Rankings

Posted by Admin on February 26, 2016
Posted in: College Tennis, ITA, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Tennis Atlantic’s 2016 @ITA College Tennis Conference Power Rankings
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

 

tennis power rankings

With the first ITA computer rankings of the year being released this week, I figured it was time to break out my own Conference Power Formula Rankings again. It is the same as last year except for a slight adjustment that punishes conferences less for having unranked teams. The rankings of every team are taken to determine how many points they add to the conference’s overall total which is then divided by the number of teams in each conference. The lower the score the better.

ITA_Logo_500_x_300

The point totals look like this:

#1: -25

#2: -21

#3: -18

#4: -15

#5: -12

#6: -10

#7: -8

#8: -6

#9: -4

#10: -2

#11: 0

#12: 2

#13: 4

#14: 6

#15: 8

#16: 10

17-75 same as ranking

Unranked team: 85

So as you can see. The point totals reward top 10 teams with negative numbers and reward top 16 teams. Below the top 16, the numbers are self-explanatory. Without further ado, here are the conference rankings based on overall strength.

 

 big 12 logo

  1. Big 12

6 Texas Tech, 8 TCU, 9 Oklahoma State, 10 Oklahoma, 26 Texas, 34 Baylor

Score: 6.33

Once again this formula puts the Big 12 firmly at the top thanks to having no teams ranked lower than 34. No weak links at all in Big 12

pac 12 logo

  1. Pac 12

4 UCLA, 12 Cal, 13 USC, 20 Oregon, 29 Stanford, 31 Washington, 53 Utah, Arizona

Score: 26.13

Pac 12 comes in 2nd thanks to teams like Oregon and Washington jumping up the rankings. Having only 1 unranked team helps the Pac 12 as well, as does having 3 top 16 teams.

sec uga

  1. SEC

7 Texas A&M, 16 Georgia, 18 Kentucky, 19 Ole Miss, 37 LSU, 41 Florida, 42 Mississippi State, 45 Vanderbilt, 48 Auburn, 51 Arkansas, 56 Tennessee, 61 South Carolina, Alabama

Score: 38.84

The SEC is helped by having only 1 unranked team out of 13. The gap from 19 to 37 prevents them a bit from moving up any further.

 Big Ten Logo

  1. Big Ten

3 Ohio State, 11 Illinois, 15 Northwestern, 21 Penn State, 28 Michigan, 36 Wisconsin, 39 Purdue, 43 Iowa, 64 Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska

Score: 41.33

Having 3 unranked teams hurts the Big Ten, however having 8 teams within the top 43 is a boost.

ACC Men's Tennis

  1. ACC

1 North Carolina, 2 Virginia, 5 Wake Forest, 25 NC State, 35 Florida State, 46 Virginia Tech, 47 Notre Dame, 54 Duke, 57 Georgia Tech, Miami, Clemson, Boston College, Louisville

Score: 42

This is the most interesting score to see. The ACC has 3 top 5 teams and yet still finishes last among the power 5 conferences. This is due to the gap from 5 to NC State at 25 and also only having 5 teams within the top 45. 5 unranked teams does not help either.

Non power 5 conferences with more than 2 ranked teams

  1. American

14 USF, 17 Memphis, 22 Tulsa, 33 Tulane, 60 SMU, 4 unranked teams

Score: 53.11

Strong score for the American. If not for the few schools who do not even give tennis scholarships in the league (UCONN) the American would threaten to overtake a power 5 league.

  1. Ivy League

23 Columbia, 32 Harvard, 38 Dartmouth, 52 Princeton, 59 Penn, 68 Cornell, Brown, Yale

Score: 55.25

Good score for the Ivy League puts them solidly in 7th. Not having a team in the top 16 hurts their chances of moving up.

  1. Big West

27 UC Santa Barbara, 49 UC Davis, 62 UC Irvine, 3 unranked

Score: 65.5

8th is about the best the Big West can hope for. Pretty good league this year indeed.

  1. Conference USA

30 Rice, 50 MTSU, 55 Old Dominion, 5 unranked

Score: 70

5 unranked teams hurts the CUSA, but overall still a pretty competitive league this year.

  1. West Coast

24 San Diego, 58 BYU, 70 Pacific, 72 Santa Clara, 72 Portland, 5 unranked

Score: 72.1

Having 5 ranked teams is phenomenal for the Big West and it gives good unranked teams like Loyola Marymount the chance to get ranked wins as the season progresses.

 

Conferences with only 1 or 2 ranked teams 

  1. Missouri Valley

44 Drake, 71 Wichita State, 5 unranked

Score: 77.14

12. Summit League

40 Denver, 5 unranked

Score: 77.5

 

13. Mountain West

65 San Diego State, 67 Boise State, 6 unranked

Score: 80.25

 

  1. Sun Belt

63 Georgia State, 75 South Alabama, 5 unranked

Score: 80.29

 

  1. Southland

66 Abilene Christian, 5 unranked

Score 81.83

 

  1. MAC

69 Western Michigan, 5 unranked

Score: 82.33

 

  1. Atlantic Sun

75 North Florida, 6 unranked

Score: 83.57

Conferences with no ranked teams and therefore the score of 85:

Atlantic 10, Big East, Big Sky, Big South, Colonial, Horizon, MAAC, MEAC, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Southern, SWAC, Patriot, WAC

.@ITATennis Tulsa All-American Players To Watch

Posted by Admin on October 2, 2015
Posted in: College Tennis, ITA, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

ITA Tulsa All-American Players To Watch
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

ITA

The most exciting individual college tennis event of the year gets underway Saturday in Tulsa. The ITA All-Americans. This tournament features literally every D1 player that wishes to enter, from main draw to qualies to pre-qualies. The colossal field often yields a ton of interesting results and gives college tennis fans a very early look at what we can expect in the upcoming dual season.

Booby Knight at collegetennistoday has the in-depth breakdown of the tournament format here.

Players to watch in Tulsa

Main Draw selections:

– Wayne Montgomery, Georgia
Montgomery will be one of the favorites to take home the title in Tulsa. The 2nd year Georgia Bulldog has already had a very strong start to the fall individual season by taking home the title in Athens a couple weekends ago in the Southern Intercollegiate Fall Championships. His relentless style of play will wreak havoc on the draw and I expect the South African to be one of the final players standing vying for the early season championship.

– Jordan Daigle, LSU
Last season was a season of breakthrough for Daigle at LSU. The LSU junior began his career at Virginia, but after not receiving much playing time as a Cavalier he opted to return closer to home to play for the LSU Tigers. This turned out to be a very good decision as he was a force at #1 for the Tigers for much of the SEC season. This season Daigle looks to improve even more and to solidify himself as one of the nation’s strong #1 players. Like Montgomery, his fall has started very well as Daigle took home the Cajun Tennis Classic title this past weekend in Lafayette. He will look to continue that momentum and Tulsa. Look for Daigle to cause a few surprises this year at the All-Americans.

– Arthur Rinderkneck, Texas A&M
Entering his 2nd season in college tennis, expectations have now been upped for Rinderkneck. As the season wore on last year, the Frenchman improved more and more until he was in the discussion for national freshman of the year. He had several clutch clinching wins for the Aggies and grew as a player. Tulsa will be his first opportunity to show what he can do in the upcoming season. His always-dangerous lanky ball striking will be a force for any player in the draw to deal with.

– Mikael Torpegaard, Ohio State
No other current college player can claim they have played on a stage equal to what Torpegaard just played on a couple of weeks ago when the Buckeye sophomore had the opportunity to play Rafa Nadal in a live Davis Cup rubber. He succumbed in straight sets but it was undoubtedly a priceless experience for him (he also played David Ferrer in a dead rubber). Will those matches mean anything for him going forward? He is one of the more talented players in college tennis and with a year of experience under his belt he can make a push for the ITA top 10 this year. Making a deep run in Tulsa would be a phenomenal way to kickoff his 2015-2016 season.

Qualifying Selections:

– Mazen Osama, Alabama
The long awaited debut of Mazen Osama will be in Tulsa at the All-Americans. The Egyptian has had an interesting route to college tennis. Originally slated to be an Ole Miss Rebel, Osama then elected to not play college tennis last year and there was doubt as to whether he would ever make his way to the USA for college tennis play. But he inexplicably landed in Tuscaloosa and will look to improve the Crimson Tide this year. His transition from Egyptian futures to American hard court college tennis will be very interesting to follow.

– Michael Redlicki, Arkansas
The older Redlicki brother is finally back in college tennis after his tumultuous tenure at Duke ended with him being removed from the team followed by a year long hiatus. There were rumors that Redlicki would become a part of the Roddick behemoth in Norman but it was not be. Instead he will look to help the Arkansas Razorbacks get out of the SEC bottom level. He began his career at Arkansas last weekend by winning the Georgia Tech Invitational Draw A title. The lefty was a controversial figure in college tennis at Duke. Will he continue his act at Arkansas or will he cut out the antics and focus solely on tennis?

– Hendrik Jebens, San Diego State
Quietly one of the most dominant #2’s in the nation last year, it appears that Jebens has upped his game for the upcoming season. He is fresh off of a big win over Robert Quiroz in California futures qualifying as well as a win over former Louisville #1 Andrew Carter. The Aztec junior is one of those players who can surprise here in Tulsa. Not someone who gets a ton of recognition but a dangerous improving player nonetheless. Do not be shocked if you see Jebens moving along the draw and by knocking out some of the better-known players.

– Enzo Sommer, Washington
The #4 ranked ITA newcomer will make his first mark in college tennis in Tulsa. The 6’4 Swiss will be a dangerous player to everyone in the draw. As with every highly rated newcomer, how well they transition to college tennis is the key question and the first tournament can shed some light on that question. Washington definitely needs Sommer to be all he is hyped up to be if they are to return to the NCAA tournament this year and again be a contender in the Pac 12.

Pre-qualifying Selections:

-Sebastian Rey, Tulane
The junior from the UK has started off the 15-16 campaign very strongly and will be a player to watch in Tulsa coming out of the pre-qualifying. In last weekend’s Rice Invitational, Rey posted a dominating win over Nick Naumann of Texas and then won the draw by beating higher ranked teammate Constantin Schmitz in the final in a tense 3rd set tiebreak. These results show that Rey can beat highly regarded players and therefore could be someone that makes some noise out of the Pre-Q draw.

– Yannick Zuern, North Florida
Already this fall Zuern boasts wins over Michael Rinaldi of FSU and Harrison Richmond of Virginia. The strong #2 player for UNF should probably be in the qualifying draw and is one of the strongest players in the pre-qualies. Nobody in this section of the tournament will want to see Zuern as their opponent and the junior form Germany should make some noise in Tulsa.

– Harrison Scott, Texas
Perhaps overlooked originally thanks to the strength of Texas’s incoming freshman class, it would now be a mistake for anyone to overlook the freshman from Calgary. Scott is 9-0 already in fall play with impressive wins over Trevor Johnson of TCU and Florian Lakat of Cal (albeit in a non-traditional format). His win streak so far this fall could continue in Tulsa. Sometimes we see these players get on a roll in the fall and rack up the wins. One that comes to mind is AJ Catanzariti of A&M last year who compiled many wins in the fall as a freshman. Scott could very well do the same thing here in Tulsa.

-Jerry Lopez, TCU
Every year in college tennis we see players transfer to a new program and become significantly better in their new location. For whatever reason the new scenery gives them renewed confidence and game clarity. This may be the case this year with Jerry Lopez. A highly regarded player but one who never really got off the ground at Kentucky and never made the impact that the Wildcats had hoped for. TCU is a big time program on the rise and being around excellence and new teammates may turn Lopez into the player he was expected to be this year. We will see starting in Tulsa.

The Dane Train: How @TexasMTN Player Soren Hess-Olesen Became The Best In College Tennis

Posted by Admin on February 23, 2015
Posted in: ITA, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , .

The Dane Train: How @TexasMTN Player Soren Hess-Olesen Became The Best In College Tennis
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

Soren Hess-Olesen (Photo: Tennisavisen.dk)

Soren Hess-Olesen (Photo: Tennisavisen.dk)

When the new ITA singles rankings are released on Tuesday, do not get caught up in the numbers. Do not allow them to fool you into believing something other than Soren Hess-Olesen being the best player in college tennis right now. The Texas Longhorn Senior from Aarhus, Denmark is bar none the best player in the land in this snapshot of the moment.

It would be very hard to argue otherwise based on recent results. In the past 5 months, starting in the fall tournaments, Hess-Olesen has only lost twice: to Cameron Norrie of TCU in a 3 setter and to Sebastian Stifelmeyer of Louisville, who was having an out of body experience all week long in the Tulsa All-American tournament. Since the dual match season has started, Soren has dropped just one set, let alone an entire match.

Here are some of his recent big wins:
def #6 Brayden Schnur (UNC) 6-4 6-1
def #13 Winston Lin (Columbia) 6-2 6-1
def #81 Leonard Stakhovsky (Penn State) 7-5 6-2
def #53 Chris Diaz (Ohio State) 6-4 6-2
def #25 Leandro Toledo (Minnesota) 6-1 7-5

As the results show, he is taking on some of the very best in college tennis and simply obliterating them.

However, this should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to college tennis the past couple seasons. Last year Soren Hess-Olesen amassed a 19-3 record at #1 for Texas and advanced to the ITA national semifinals in the individual tournament before eventually falling to champion Marcos Giron. Last year is when it started to click for Soren. His 19-3 record was a vast improvement from his 12-9 record at #1 in his sophomore season. This year, he is a fully formed player and taking on all comers in impressive fashion.

When one watches Soren Hess-Olesen play, they are not blown away by a single great shot, by any great power nor by any blinding speed or footwork. But what is evident when watching a Hess-Olesen match is that he is in control. He dictates and he decides what happens in the match. He does this with a quiet ability to absorb his opponent’s best shots and redirect them all over the court, often for winners. If you are reading this and imaging a “solid” player then you are wrong. Solid suggests that there is nothing special about the particular player it is being used to describe, but there is something special about Soren Hess-Olesen. His levelheadedness and match strategy far exceeds most players in the college game. You can tell that in every match he is determining the best way to beat his opponent. His ability to disguise his shots and plans are also above the typical college level, as can be seen every time his opponent is exasperated when yet another winner goes past them off of a perfectly executed re-direct.

The season is still long and Soren will have plenty of big matches upcoming aginst other great college players like Julian Lenz of Baylor, Andrew Harris/Axel Alvarez of Oklahoma and Noah Rubin of Wake Forest. These will be tremendously high quality affairs and if Soren Hess-Olesen is what I believe that he is, the best player in the college game, then he will overcome the big challenges ahead.

Jeff McMillan (Clemson)

Texas A&M (@AggieMTEN) Edge #1 Oklahoma Sooners (@OU_MTennis) in College Station, TX

Posted by Admin on February 22, 2015
Posted in: ITA, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Texas A&M (@AggieMTEN) Edge #1 Oklahoma Sooners (@OU_MTennis) in College Station, TX
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

Oklahoma’s reign as the #1 team in the land was short lived as #13 Texas A&M took advantage of a big opportunity and beat the Sooners 4-3 in front of a lively crowd on a terribly windy night.

Here is the story of the match in videos:

Axel Alvarez keeps plugging away at 31 and here he wins the first set over Shane Vinsant

Spencer Papa of Oklahoma steals the first set away from Arthur Rinderkneck 7-6(5) on court 4 and briefly turned the momentum to Oklahoma.

But AJ Catanzariti shifts the momentum right back to A&M with this huge tiebreaker win in the 1st set over the usually clutch Alex Ghilea on court 5. This tiebreak was going on at the exact same time as the tiebreak on court 4.

Catanzariti rolled in the 2nd set. Here he is clinching his win over Chilea 7-6(5) 6-1.

The action concluded on court 4 where Arthur Rinderkneck added the 2nd big clinch of his very young career (also clinched the big win over Ohio State).

Jeff McMillan (Clemson)

Sooners (@OU_MTennis) Booming After Big @ITATennis Indoor Championship Run

Posted by Admin on February 17, 2015
Posted in: Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Sooners (@OU_MTennis) Booming After Big @ITATennis Indoor Championship Run
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

Sooners Are Champions (Photo Courtesy of SoonerSports.com)

Sooners Are Champions (Photo: SoonerSports.com)

Last week in my ITA Indoor Championships preview I listed the favorite as Virginia followed by the challengers USC, Baylor and Georgia. I ignored the #2 seed Oklahoma. And by ignored I mean that I listed them as the “pretender” of the top ranked teams in the nation. I did not deny that Oklahoma is a top team or that they had a serious shot at a title come May, but what I did deny was that they could win the ITA indoors event in Chicago… How wrong I ended up being.

OU Sooners were sure to let me know soon after the match.

Hats off to Oklahoma for winning the title, the first in program history.

Now how did this championship happen for OU? How did this team get over the hump and win it all when they were widely expected not to? It can be summed up in two words: Alexandru Ghilea. To truly understand the impact of the sophomore from Neamt, Romania, you must go back to last season. The Sooners of 2014 had the strongest top 4 in the nation: Alcorta, Alvarez, Harris, Webb. It was a fearsome foursome that every team in the nation feared. But early in the season 5 and 6 hindered Oklahoma. An assorted of combinations of Nick Papac, Austin Siegel and Peerakit Siributwong were tried but none of them were able to produce wins in the lower parts of the line-up. Many college tennis enthusiast believed this would be the Sooner’s undoing come crunch time vs the other top teams and the dreams of being elite would eventually fade. Now this is the part where Alex Ghilea enters the fray.

Late in the year, Ghilea stepped up and started winning at #5 and giving OU that extra boost, none more so important than the clutch 6-3 4-6 7-6(5) win over UCLA’s Karue Sell which propelled the Sooners to a massive upset of national darling UCLA in the NCAA semifinals.

The 2015 Sooners look even better than the 2014 Sooners and it is because of Ghilea. He is now one of the best #5 players in the country, ranked #63 nationally and undefeated in this dual season. In Chicago, he rolled past Babic of Ole Miss and dominated Jack Murray of UNC, which is not an easy task. Vs Baylor Ghilea rallied from 4-6 2-5 down and ripped off 11 straight games to beat Mate Zsiga 4-6 7-5 6-0 which ended up being the clinching point. And vs USC The Romanian again clinched the match, this time outlasting Max De Vroome in a 3 set battle.

It looks as if Ghilea will continue to be a rock at #5 for Oklahoma this year, as they will attempt to lift both national title trophies in one season. He is not without help of course. Dane Webb has stepped up big-time and become a real senior leader for the Sooners; he has made obliterating opponents somewhat of a routine as of late. It’s a treat for tennis fans everywhere whenever Axel Alvarez hits a forehand and if you are blessed enough to see it in person you will see that he is probably the most ATP-like player in college tennis. He provides strength at #2. Jose Salazar looks to be a stable #6 which is a big upgrade from a year ago at the #6 position. And of course, Andrew Harris at #1 who has improved a lot from last year. Spencer Papa has not got off to a flying start yet at #4 but one would expect him to get things going as the season progresses.

Can Oklahoma, to borrow a phrase from European soccer, “Do the Double”? It will be an interesting outdoor season to watch. Virginia and USC aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, with both teams will be rearing to take back #1 in the nation. And you know that the Baylor Bears would love to hoist the trophy on their home courts come this May in Waco, the site of the NCAAs. A few outlying challengers will have their say as well.

Oklahoma still has a very tough season ahead. And its starts in just a few days on Friday in College Station vs Texas A&M, who despite not qualifying for indoors is still a salty team, shown by their win over Ohio State a few weeks ago. How well Oklahoma recovers from the emotional high of winning in Chicago and going back to slugging it out in College Station on Friday will show a lot in regards to what this team is all about. I will be there to witness the match between Oklahoma and Texas A&M on Friday (barring rain). You can follow my coverage of that match by following my twitter @jjjtm_clem_uiw . I will give updates as well as provide captured videos after the match.

Jeff McMillan (Clemson)

2015 @ITATennis Indoor Men’s Indoor National Championships Preview

Posted by Admin on February 11, 2015
Posted in: ITA, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

2015 @ITATennis Indoor Men’s Indoor National Championships Preview
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

The ITA Indoor Men’s Indoor National Championships will take place this weekend in Chicago at the Midtown Athletic Club. 16 teams qualified for this event based on winning their kickoff weekend regional, which was recapped previously here on Tennis Atlantic with a kickoff weekend all-star team. The action will be intense in Chicago all weekend, with each team guaranteed 3 matches (teams that make the final will play 4 matches). The teams will be drawn and matched up based on rankings. The draw comes out Wednesday.

 

2015indoors

These 16 teams will be competing in Chicago for the right to be called indoor champion and also for a good shot at quality wins for the rankings.

 

Here are 7 teams in particular to watch that stand out as their designated label:

 

 

The Favorite: Virginia

 

Why the Cavs will win it:

The Virginia Cavaliers enter Chicago as the clear favorite to win the indoor title once again.

  • UVA has made winning the indoor championships almost an annual right of passage in recent years. This year’s team looks to be one of the strongest in their history.
  • Thai-Son Kwiatkowski who is the new #1 ranked player in the ITA rankings has been unbeatable in his early college career and has shown no signs of slowing down.
  • Ryan Shane and Mitchell Frank look to be as formidable as ever.
  • The strength of the UVA top 3 forces former Kalamazoo champion Colin Altamirano to play as low as #4 on the team, which speaks to the Cavaliers insane depth. The strength of the team plus the history of being the top dog indoors, makes Virginia the favorite to win it all in Chicago.

 

Why the Cavs may not win it:

It seems like a pretty safe bet to pick Virginia to win the championship but there are a few reasons why that could potentially not happen.

  • Lack of a challenge thus far. Virginia has not played a difficult dual match yet as a team. The best team they have played to this point has been #43 Louisville. Other top teams have already played a few difficult and testing matches. If the Cavaliers find themselves in a tight match it could lead to some extra pressure being placed on the Cavs.
  • Mental block vs USC. Even though Virginia is the more talented team this year, Southern Cal still has the big advantage in the mental department vs Virginia based on recent history, as the Trojans have owned the Cavs on the biggest stages in recent years even. If these two teams end up facing off, Virginia could again find themselves once again starring down the barrel vs the Trojans in a desperate situation.

 

 

 

The Top Challenger: Southern Cal

 

Why the Trojans will win it:

The biggest obstacle to Virginia waltzing away with the title is Southern Cal. Per usual, the Trojans once again have a very good team.

  • #7 Yannick Hanfmann and #24 Roberto Quiroz are two of the most talented and pro ready players in college tennis and headline a very string lineup. And the two couple to make the #1 ranked doubles team in the land right now.
  • Added to the mix this year is Johnny Wang, who rarely played in the top 6 a year ago but is ranked #20 in the nation early in 2015 and has established himself as a stalwart at #3 for the Trojans.
  • The Trojans are battle tested already, having already beaten #4 Georgia 4-0 in Athens and also have beaten #14 Florida.

 

Why the Trojans will not win it:

Despite the positives there are reasons why to be back the Trojans as your championship pick in Chicago.

  • Lack of indoor success. Southern Cal owns 5 of the past 6 national championships, but has had far less success indoors during hat time.
  • Depth of the line-up is questionable. 4-6 have a few question marks vs the other top teams

 

 

The Other Challengers: Georgia, Baylor and Illinois

Why the Bulldogs could win it:

Georgia has a chance to win the title in Chicago, based on their improved team from a year ago.

  • The strength of the top 3. Freshman #21 Wayne Montgomery joins #21 Austin Smith and #17 Nathan Pasha at the top of the UGA line-up provide the Bulldogs with a good chance to get 4 points vs the other top teams.

Why the Bears could win it:

Baylor is another team that has a chance to win the title.

  • Strength throughout the lineup. Baylor has no weak spots in their top 6 and can challenge any team 1-6.
  • Maxime Tchoutakian’s form. The latest addition to the Bear roster (joined in January) has been on fire recently by qualifying for the Dallas Challenger.

Why the Fighting Illini could win it:

Illinois has an outsider’s chance at winning the title as well

  • Host team. Even though they are not at home in Champaign, the Fighting Illini are the host school and will probably have the most fans attending.
  • Indoor specialty. Illinois is always a stronger team indoors than outdoors.
  • Line-up balance. The Illini have 5 ranked players and have no weak spots anywhere in the line-up.

 

Why the Bulldogs won’t win it:

  • Questions in the lower parts of the line-up, especially at #6 where they are likely to be the underdog in most matches vs other top teams.
  • Already have been beaten 4-0 by Southern Cal and that was at home in Athens.

Why the Bears won’t win it:

  • Doubles question marks. Baylor has no powerhouse doubles team, like the other top teams do, which could prove costly for the doubles point.
  • Lack of results vs other top teams. Baylor has not fared very well vs other top 10 teams recently and that is a big red flag if one is to pick them to win the title.

Why the Fighting Illini won’t win it:

  • Lack of top quality firepower that is needed to win 4 straight matches. Illinois can beat one of the other top teams but is not likely to win 4 matches in 4 days, simply not strong enough in the end.

 

 

The Pretender: Oklahoma

 

Why the Sooners will not win the title:

Now this is not to say that Oklahoma is not a top 5-quality team, because they certainly are. This is just simply stating that they will not win this particular championship. They have a much better shot in May to win the national title than they do to win this title in Chicago.

  • Top players not yet peaking. #26 Andrew Harris hit his peak level in Australian early in January in preparation for the college season, but since then has not been quite as good. He does have a good win over Noah Rubin but overall Harris has shown his more susceptible side in recent dual matches.
  • Spencer Papa not in the best form. On paper seeing Papa at #4 should seem like a slam-dunk win for Oklahoma every match. However it has not played out that way to this point in the season.
  • Lack of doubles depth. While OU has a strong team at the top doubles position, they have twice lost the doubles point already this season to lower ranked teams (USF and Northwestern) due to losing at 2 and 3 doubles.

 

Why the Sooners could prove me wrong:

Despite the negatives, Oklahoma is still a very talented team.

  • Talent could turn on at any time. Oklahoma has the ability to turn on the jets vs other top teams.
  • Experience of #11 Axel Alvarez-Llamas and #31 Dane Webb. The two veterans could lead the team to rally and get big wins.

 

 

The Gatecrasher: TCU

 

Reasons to watch the Horned Frogs:

TCU is a very talented and improved team that could be dangerous to anyone in Chicago and could turn things upside down

  • Form of #18 Cameron Norrie. Norrie has been on fire recently and is already one of the top college players in the nation very early into his freshman season. He can play with any other top player.
  • Veteran leadership of #48 Nick Chapell, #85 Facundo Lugones and Arnau Dachs. These 3 Horned Frogs have been around TCU a while and know what it takes to get big dual wins, they are all ready to taste the success that has alluded them thus far in their careers.
  • #112 Guillermo Nunez being a rock in the lower line-up. He has yet to lose a dual match and will be a very strong spot for TCU whether they decide to play him at 5 or at 6.

 

Why the Horned Frogs could not be ready to challenge teams:

There are a lot of positive things to say about the TCU Horned Frogs, but there are still a few questions that could stymie their growth to a national challenger here in Chicago.

  • Snake-bitten history in tight matches. Last year TCU lost a ton of close matches, some of which in quite fantastically dramatic ways. If they are pit in a tight match here in Chicago, some of those old memories could seep back into their consciousness, especially for the veterans.

 

 

 

The Mincemeat: Penn State

Why the Nittany Lions are out of their league:

Penn State was a surprise qualifier for the final 16 here in Chicago and garnered a lot of praise nationwide for their surprise qualification. However since then, things have not gone so well.

  • Loss to unranked Penn. How did Penn State celebrate their huge Chicago qualification? By losing to unranked and unheralded Ivy League team Penn. It was a shocking loss that set the Nittany Lions back several steps.
  • Soundly beaten by #37 Virginia Tech. Penn State also lost to #37 Virginia Tech over the weekend in straightforward fashion. If Penn State is getting beat soundly by the likes of a team ranked outside the top 30, then how will they fare vs teams that are top 15 in the nation?

 

 

 

Tennis Atlantic’s @ITATennis Kickoff Weekend All-Star Line-Up

Posted by Admin on January 27, 2015
Posted in: ITA, Jeff McMillan, NCAA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Tennis Atlantic’s @ITATennis Kickoff Weekend All-Star Line-Up
Jeff McMillan, Tennis Atlantic

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This past weekend the dual college tennis season finally got into full gear after the long off-season with the ITA kickoff weekend. Fifteen schools hosted regionals of four teams, with each team guaranteed two matches. The fifteen regional winners will join host Illinois in Chicago for the national indoor event in February.

There were many close matches, upsets and near upsets and showed that this college tennis season will be one to follow closely with the plethora of talent spread across the country.

After all the matches, Tennis Atlantic has chosen our All-Star Line-Up based on the players’ performance to help their team qualify for the national event in Chicago.

ITA Kickoff Weekend All-Star Line-Up:

1. Soren Hess-Olesen, Texas

Soren Hess-Oleson (Photo Credit: NCAA)

Soren Hess-Oleson (Photo Credit: NCAA)

Heading the top spot in the all-star line-up is senior Soren Hess-Olesen from the Texas Longhorns. Hess-Olesen entered the weekend as one of the nations top players coming in at #13 in the ITA rankings and the Aarhus, Denmark native backed up his ranking in impressive fashion. Texas was heavily favored to win their region in Austin, but was tested a bit more than expected with stern challenges coming from Minnesota and Florida State. Hess-Olesen was the solid rock that kept the team from succumbing to the oncoming challengers. He took care of the 17th ranked player in the nation, Leandro Toledo of Minnesota in routine 6-1 7-5 fashion, which set the tone for the 4-1 win over Minnesota. On Sunday he absorbed everything that talented Zimbabwean Ben Lock threw at him and breezed past the FSU #1 6-2 6-3 which was a key point in a tight 4-3 win.

2. Nicolas Alvarez, Duke

At the #2 spot in the all-star lineup is the Duke freshman from Lima, Peru. Alvarez announced his presence on the college tennis scene in the fall with several big wins, as he quickly became one of the top players in the nation already as a freshman. He entered the kickoff weekend ranked #18 in the nation and he would face stout competition at the #2 slot in the Durham region. He began the weekend with a huge 7-6(1) 6-3 win over #12 Romain Bogaerts of Wake Forest that became a huge point in an important early season win for Duke over upstart ACC rival Wake Forest. Wake is thought to have one of the best top 2 combos in the country with Noah Rubin and Romain Bogaerts, but Alvarez disrupted that with his huge win over Bogaerts. Alvarez followed up the impressive win vs Wake with another impressive win over the talented freshman from Memphis Andrew Watson 6-4 6-4 who is ranked #23 in the country to lead Duke to Chicago.

3. Matt Barry, Penn State

The biggest surprise of the kick-off weekend was Penn State’s qualification for the final 16. The underdogs from the Big Ten upset host Kentucky before knocking off favored USF to qualify for Chicago despite only being ranked #26 heading into the weekend. A big part of Penn State’s qualification was the play of junior Matt Barry from Lido Beach, NY. Barry actually played at the #4 slot in the first match vs. host Kentucky. Barry took out crafty Kevin Lai 6-4 6-4 in a match that many would consider a surprise result. His win was the most solid keg in Penn State’s sweep of the 3-6 positions that gave the Nittany Lions the huge win over Kentucky. On Sunday Barry backed up his great win over Lai with a huge comeback win at the #3 position vs USF. Barry dropped the first set vs Oliver Pramming 5-7 which put Penn State in a perilous position. Barry started a rally for his team on court 3 by taking the 2nd set 6-4 and eventually closing the rally by winning the 3rd set 6-2 and sending Penn State tennis to an unprecedented level.

4. Ashok Narayana, Columbia

Representing the Ivy League in Chicago will be Columbia who had a close win over Tennessee and then an epic win over host Notre Dame. The standout for Columbia in these two wins was Houston, TX senior Ashok Narayana. Narayana took care of Luis Valero of Tennessee in a 7-5 6-2 solid win that was a key point in the Lions 4-3 win over the Vols. On Sunday Columbia and Notre Dame would battle in what is already an early season candidate for match of the season. Each of the 6 singles courts went to a 3rd set with the result entirely in the air. Narayana’s turnaround proved to be the key in the match. After dropping the first set 1-6 to Eric Schurrenberger, Narayana would rally. In the end Narayana out dueled the Notre Dame junior, who had just won the decisive 3rd set tiebreaker in the previous match that lead Notre Dame past Oklahoma State and set up the matchup with Columbia. 1-6 7-5 6-4 Narayana def Schurrenberger and Columbia will be in Chicago amongst the best teams in the nation.

5. Jose Antonio Salazar, Oklahoma

Oklahoma is considered to be one of the top favorites to win the national title this season and if they wish to achieve this goal the key is how some of the new pieces fit into the team. Jose Salazar is one of those new players. The Canary Islands native fit right into the Sooner lineup this weekend and had two solid wins. He defeated James Hignett of New Mexico 7-5 6-1 in the first round to give the Sooners a no drama win over the heavy underdogs. On Sunday though it was a different story as the Northwestern Wildcats gave Oklahoma everything they wanted. Salazar was blitzed in the first set 2-6 by Alp Horoz from Turkey and it was looking like Oklahoma may be headed for an unexpected exit from the kick-off weekend. But Salazar rallied and dominated the next two sets 6-2 6-0 which proved to be instrumental in shifting the momentum of the match and led the Sooners to overcoming the stiff challenge from the Wildcats in a 4-1 win.

6. Ricardo Jorge, Ole Miss

Rounding out the kickoff weekend all-star is Ole Miss sophomore Ricardo Jorge. The Tavira, Portugal native came through with two 3 set wins that lifted his Ole Miss Rebels to Chicago after two very close wins over Florida and South Carolina. Ole Miss looked dead to rights vs Florida after going down 3-0 in Gainseville as did Jorge who had lost the first set to Oliver Landert 3-6. But Jorge kept the hopes alive for Ole Miss after a tense 2nd set tiebreak in which he emerged the victor 7-6(5) he rode his momentum into the 3rd set and took the match with a 6-4 3rd set win as Ole Miss beat Florida 4-3. Jorge provided his team with another 3 set win on Sunday when he defeated Thomas Mayronne of South Carolina 6-1 3-6 6-2. Jorge’s two huge wins at #6 over the weekend was a big boost for Ole Miss as they became one of the only two SEC teams to qualify for Chicago.

Honorable Mentions
Max Schnur, Columbia
Dragos Ignat, Columbia
Guillermo Nunez, TCU
Gustav Hansson, Ole Miss
Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Virginia

Jeff McMillan (Clemson)