tulsa

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

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.

Five Shine @ITATennis Tulsa Fall All-Americans
Jeff McMillan, Tennis East Coast

Players from around the country competed in the Tulsa Fall All-Americans the past week and a half. The event in Tulsa is an annual tournament, mammoth in size and comprising players from nearly every D1 team in the nation. The tournament started in the pre-qualifying, continued through the qualifying draw and concluded in the main draw Monday. The players were placed in each draw based on pre-season ranking and previous season accomplishment. Players starting in the pre-qualifying draw had to win 7 matches in order to get into the 64 player main draw. 4 players fought their way all the way form the pre-qualifying draw and into the main draw: Jack Murray of North Carolina, AJ Catanzariti of Texas A&M, Jonathan Ho of Wake Forest and Thomas Stillman of Texas-San Antonio.
The 10-day event was full of great matches, upsets, emerging players and overall great play. Of the many players who played in Tulsa 5 in particular stood out:

Ben Lott: Drake. Junior from Newcastle, England.
Tulsa results
QR1: def Wayne Montgomery, Georgia, 6-1 6-4
QR2: def Benjamin Lock, Florida State, 6-2 6-3
QR3: def Ashok Narayana, Columbia, 7-5 6-3
R1: lost to Jared Hitzlik, Illinois, 6-4 7-5
CON: def Harrison Adams, Texas A&M, 6-4 6-4
CON: lost to Chris Diaz, Ohio State, 7-5 6-2

Lott came into Tulsa as an unseeded player in the qualifying draw. He announced his presence in Tulsa with a dominating win over Wayne Montgomery of Georgia who was the hottest young player in the nation prior to this tournament, having just won the Southern Intercollegiate event in Athens. He followed that up with a routine win over Lock, who will likely be the #1 player for Florida State this year. He qualified for the main draw with a win over Narayana. His dream of winning it all was lost with a first round loss to Hitzlik but he backed up his qualifying success with a straight sets win over Texas A&M’s top player Harrison Adams. His tournament ended with a loss to eventual consolation draw runner-up Chris Diaz. Overall, it was a very impressive result for Lott of Drake, who always puts out a very solid tennis program.

Nicolas Alvarez: Duke. Freshman from Lima, Peru.
Tulsa results
QR1: def Nathan Rakitt, Georgia Tech, 6-4 6-4
QR2: def Stefan Lindmark, Ole Miss, 6-4 7-5
QR3: def Tin Ostojic, Wichita State, 6-2 7-5
R1: def Andre Goransson, Cal, 6-0 3-6 6-2
R2: def Jared Hitzlik, Illinois, 2-6 7-5 6-4
R3: def Roberto Cid, USF, 6-3 5-7 6-4
QF: lost to Yannick Hanfmann, Southern Cal, 6-1 6-1

Alvarez was a highly touted freshman coming into Duke this year. He is an accomplished ITF player and figured to immediately make a big impact for the Duke Blue Devils. He proved those thoughts to be exactly right this week in Tulsa with his impressive display. He began his run with a win over Georgia Tech’s #1 player Rakitt and followed that up with two straight set wins over Lindmark and Ostojic. He then won 3 straight 3 set matches to get all the way to the quarterfinals. His wins over Hitzlik and Cid are the particularly good ones considering the elite nature of those two players on a national scale. He will be a big player in the ACC and the nation as a freshman this year.

A.J. Catanzariti: Texas A&M. Freshman from Pittsburgh, PA
Tulsa results
PR1: def Sergio de Vilchez, Wichita State, 6-4 6-0
PR2: def Simon Freund, LSU, 6-2 6-3
PR3: def Matt Frost, Drake, 6-3 6-4
PR4: def Ben Davis, MTSU, 7-5 6-1
QR1: def Eric Johnson, Southern Cal, 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3
QR2: def David Biosca, ETSU, 7-6(2) 6-1
QR3: def Chris Diaz, Ohio State, 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3
R1: lost to Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Virginia, 7-6(5) 6-4
CON: def Albert Wagner, Louisville, 6-1 6-2
R2: lost to Ronnie Schneider, North Carolina, 7-5 7-5

Catanzariti was the only player in the entire field to win 7 matches in a row to get into the main draw (the other 3 pre-qualifiers had byes in R1 so they only won 6 matches to get in the main draw). He mowed down players in the pre-qualies with the signature win being over Davis of MTSU. In qualifying he knocked off Eric Johnson, one of the key parts of USC’s national title team from last year. His win over Chris Diaz is the standout win of the tournament for the freshman. Catanzariti’s two losses were to two of the best players in college tennis and he was able to give them two tight sets each. Catanzariti proved this week that he will play a role in A&M’s season this year in the SEC.

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski: Virginia. Sophomore from Charlotte, NC
Tulsa results
QR1: def Kevin Metka, Ohio State, 3-6 6-2 6-3
QR2: def Martin Redlicki, UCLA, 6-2 7-6(4)
QR3: def Felipe Rios, Baylor, 6-2 6-4
R1: def AJ Cantazariti, Texas A&M, 7-6(5) 6-4
R2: def Winston Lin, 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3
R3: def Austin Smith, Georgia, 6-1 6-7(3) 6-3
QF: def Julian Lenz, Baylor, 6-2 6-3
SF: lost Sebastian Stieflemeyer, Louisville, 6-1 3-6 6-1

The Virginia sophomore was a quiet rock last year as a freshman. He went through the whole season with only 1 loss with little fanfare. His stellar record may have gone unnoticed on the national scale because he was playing lower in the UVA line-up. But in Tulsa, Thai-Son showed that he will be unnoticed no longer. In his first match he avenged his only collegiate loss by rallying to beat big serving Buckeye veteran Kevin Metka. He then dispatched highly touted UCLA freshman Michael Redlicki, who is expected to be one of the best freshmen in the nation this year before finishing the qualifying campaign with a dominating win over Felipe Rios. After beating Catanzariti in round 1 of the main draw, Kwiatkowski showed his true potential. He defeated Winston Lin and Austin Smith, both of whom were top 15 players in the country last year. Thai-Son showed solid mental strength in each match after he lost the 2nd set and the momentum in both before putting together rock solid 3rd sets. In the quarterfinals Kwiatkowski dominated the #1 seed in Tulsa and Baylor kingpin Julian Lenz in a match that shows just how good the Cavalier is going to be this year. His run came to an eventual end to red-hot Sebastian Stieflemeyer in 3 sets but nonetheless it was an immense week for Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and shows that he will be one of the nation’s top players this year and will be a big part of UVA’s attempt to recapture the national title.

Sebastian Stieflemeyer: Louisville. Senior from Vienna, Austria
Tulsa results
QR1: def Ace Matias, UNLV, 6-1 6-2
QR2: def Ricky Medinilla, Purdue, 6-0 0-6 7-6(3)
QR3: def Robert Kelly, North Carolina, 6-2 1-6 6-2
R1: def Bruno Semenzato, Duke, 4-6 6-2 6-0
R2: def Soren Hess-Olesen, Texas, 6-4 6-2
R3: def Samir Iftikhar, New Mexico, 6-1 7-6(1)
QF: def Dominic Koepfer, Tulane, 4-6 6-3 6-2
SF: def Thai-Son Kwiathowski, Virginia, 6-1 3-6 6-1
F: def Yannick Hanfmann, Southern Cal, 6-3 6-2

After the 10 day event, the many many matches and the players from around the country competing in Tulsa, an unlikely winner emerged. That unlikely winner was Sebastian Stieflemeyer, a senior from Austria for the Louisville Cardinals. Stieflemeyer has always been a solid #1 player for the Cardinals but never considered one of the nation’s elites. But that changed through a week of inspired play. His championship run almost ended in the qualifying draw after he barely survived a roller-coaster match with Purdue’s Ricky Medinilla. After the two traded bagel sets, Stieflemeyer outclassed the Mexican in the 3rd set tiebreak to keep his tournament alive. He then beat two ACC players in three sets each in order to get to a 2nd round showdown with Soren Hess-Olesen. Hess-Olesen was a big favorite coming in and a seemingly bad matchup for Stieflemeyer but the Louisville senior rolled through the Longhorn in two sets. Two fellow surprise players, Iftikhar and Koepfer, were Steiflemeyer’s next victims as he kept rolling into the semifinals. As previously mentioned, he knocked off the on-fire Kwiatkowski to set up a final with Southern Cal’s Yannick Hanfmann. Hanfmann, now a veteran, is one of the best players in the nation and arguably the one with the most ATP potential. He was expected to dismiss the upstart Stieflemeyer but the opposite occurred as Sebastian shockingly routined the USC Trojan to capture the title.

An overall amazing week that comes out of nowhere for Sebastian Stieflemeyer and it will be very interesting to see how he backs up this All-American championship.