Sep 6, 2013
ITA Men’s All-American Championships Selections | Division I Preseason Rankings
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With the 2013-14 tennis season upon us the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has released the draws for its first national event of the year, the ITA All-American Championships, along with the Division I preseason rankings.
Ryan Lipman and Gonzales Austin have each been recognized for their performances during the 2012-13 season and were selected as participants in the ITA All-American singles Main Draw. The tandem was also selected to participate in the doubles main draw.
Lipman and Austin were each also ranked in the top of the Division I preseason rankings. Lipman enters his senior campaign ranked No. 4 overall, while Austin comes in at No. 35. The duo is also the 13th-ranked doubles team nationally.
Lipman, a home school product and native of Nashville, goes into his final season with the Commodores only 22 wins shy breaking the school record of 99 career singles wins, set by two-time All-American Bobby Reynolds.
The redshirt senior finished the 2013 season with an overall record of 31-11 from the No. 1 singles position, en route to being selected an ITA All-American. He became the first men’s tennis All-American out of Vanderbilt since Reynolds and Chad Harris in 2003.
Austin, out of Miami, Fla., will start off his junior season ranked No. 35 by the ITA. He finished the 2013 season ranked 48th in the country with a 25-13 record, primarily out of the No. 2 singles position.
The 2013-14 men’s tennis season kicks off in one week, when the Commodores head to Athens, Ga. for the Southern Collegiates. From there it is back to the Currey Tennis Center for the SEC Fall Classic, beginning on September 19.