Nov. 6, 2013
NEW YORK – The fall tennis season has come to its climax with the arrival of the ITA/USTA National Indoor Championships. Both of Vanderbilt’s tennis teams will be represented at this prestigious tournament, which serves as the only ITA sanctioned event to feature players from every level of college tennis. Gonzales Austin will be the men’s representative, while Georgina Sellyn will go on behalf of the women’s team.
The event, hosted by Columbia University, will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and will feature a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw. Automatic entry into the tournament is given to the champions for the USTA/ITA Division I Regionals, winners of the USTA/ITA National Small College Super Bowl and the consolation champions, doubles finalists, men’s singles quarterfinalists and women’s singles semifinalists from the ITA men’s and women’s All-American Championships.
Austin, the No. 35 singles player in the country, punched his way to the tournament as a quarterfinalist at the All-American Championships. The junior from Miami defeated three-consecutive top-45 opponents to make it to the quarters, starting with an impressive 6-1, 6-1, win over No. 11 Jeremy Efferding of Texas A&M.
The lefty won in the quarterfinals over Austin Smith of Georgia, in what became known as the match of the tournament. Austin defeated Smith in a match that featured three tie-breaks and just over three hours of tennis. The Vandy junior eventually fell in the semifinals to No. 36 Guillermo Alcorta of Oklahoma.
The men’s singles draw features 26 ranked players, including six of the top 10 players in Division I. Patrick Pradella, the No. 16 overall player from Baylor is the tournaments top-seed. Alcorta (Oklahoma) and Julian Lenz (Baylor) round out the top three. The remaining seeded players are Smith, UGA (4), Austin, Vandy (5), Clay Thompson, UCLA (6), Winston Lin, Columbia (7) and Jared Hiltzik, Illinois (8).
Austin, the fifth-seeded singles player, opens up National Indoors with first round match against Henry Craig of Denver. Craig gained entry to the tournament by winning the USTA/ITA Mountain Regional over No. 115 Samir Iftikhar of New Mexico. Austin, 10-3 this fall, has already posted a 4-1 record against nationally ranked opponents.
“AJ [Austin] is playing really well right now. He is healthy and where he needs to be physically going into this,” said men’s head coach Ian Duvenhage. “I told him a few days ago, that somebody needs to win this tournament and it might as well be him. He is certainly capable of winning, and he is playing the kind of tennis that you need to, to win the whole thing. Right now I think AJ can beat anybody, so we are going to take it one day at a time.”
The representative for the women’s team is Sellyn, who qualified by winning the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional over No. 26 Nadia Ravita of Kentucky. Sellyn, a Glasgow, Scotland native, was ranked No. 71 in the ITA preseason rankings and has performed above and beyond that ranking. Heading into National Indoors, the sophomore holds a 12-2 record including winning nine of her last 10 matches. The win over Ravita in the regional final was Sellyn’s only match against a ranked opponent this fall.
The women’s singles draw features 29 ranked players, including five of the top 10 in Division I and three of the top five freshman. The No. 3 overall freshman, Jamie Loeb, from UNC is the top-seed in the draw. Rounding out the remaining seeded players are Robin Anderson, UCLA (2), Beatrice Capra, Duke (3), Sabrina Santamaria, USC (4), Zsofi Susani, Cal (5), Lauren Gerring, UGA (6), Hayley Carter, UNC (7) and Silvia Garcia, UGA (8).
Sellyn will open up with a first round match against Valentine Confalonieri of Lynn University. Confalonieri is currently ranked the top Division II in the southern region and finished last season as the 9th-ranked player in D II. The Lynn sophomore qualified for National Indoors by winning the USTA/ITA National Small College Super Bowl.
“Georgina is ready to compete,” said women’s head coach Geoff Macdonald. “She’s had a good week at practice and I think she is ready. Georgie was never really a great indoor player but I feel she has come a long way this fall, as shown by her win at regionals. I think she will be able to make a run in this tournament when she plays at the high level I know she’s capable of.”
Schedule of Events
Thursday, November 7 – 9 a.m.
Men’s & Women’s Doubles Round of 32
Men’s & Women’s Doubles Round of 16
Men’s & Women’s Singles Round of 32
Friday, November 8 – 9 a.m.
Men’s & Women’s Doubles Quarterfinals/Consolation
Men’s & Women’s Singles Round of 16
Men’s & Women’s Singles Consolation
Men’s & Women’s Singles Quarterfinals
Saturday, November 9 – 9 a.m.
Men’s & Women’s Doubles Semifinals/Consolation
Men’s & Women’s Singles Consolation Quarterfinals
Men’s & Women’s Singles Semifinals
Men’s & Women’s Singles Consolation Semifinals
Sunday, November 10 – 10 a.m.
Men’s & Women’s Doubles Finals/Consolation
Men’s & Women’s Consolation FinalsMen’s & Women’s Singles Finals
