May 24, 2016
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After two weeks of hard training, three Commodores are prepared to begin their journeys in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournament. The individual tournament takes place after the conclusion of the NCAA team tournament, in Tulsa, Okla., from May 25th – 30th.
This year the ‘Dores send Daniel Valent to compete in the singles draw and Rhys Johnson and Cameron Klinger to represent Vanderbilt in the tournament’s grueling doubles draw.
No. 36 Valent begins singles action Wednesday at 12:30 pm against Florida State’s 9-16 seed, No. 11 Benjamin Lock. Selected as one of 64 players to make the cut, the sophomore from Zurich, Switzerland, has never faced Lock and looks forward to his NCAA singles tournament debut.
“Danny is obviously playing a seed in the first round,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage, “and I think Danny is capable of beating anybody… but this tournament is also the kind of tournament where anybody can beat you. He’s going to have to be ready to play tomorrow. I’m not worried about whether he’s going to be ready to play, to do well in this tournament you have to go in with the right mindset and your thinking has to be sound. Through the years I’ve had guys who’ve come through this tournament and their heads were in the right place and they had a good tournament… I think the key for him to have a good tournament is to have his head in the right place.”
Selected by the NCAA subcommittee as a 5-8 seed, automatic All-Americans Johnson/Klinger, look to begin their first and last tournament together against Ohio State’s 22nd-ranked tandem of Herkko Pollanen and Mikael Torpegaard. With the ‘Dores ranked No. 7 in the country they find a difficult test very early in the draw against the Buckeyes, as well as down the line as the winner of Thursday’s round of 16 match advances to potentially play Florida’s No. 1 team of Hidalgo/Watson. 2016 will be two-time All-American, Johnson’s, second appearance in the NCAA tournament.
“We play the guys from Ohio State, and it’s the kind of match that we can definitely win, but also if we’re not ready to play or on top of our game we probably wont. But this is the pinnacle of competing individually in college tennis… this is our national championship so I know the guys are excited. We had a great practice this morning and a good hit yesterday, so we’ll tee it up tomorrow and see which way it goes.”
