Oct. 5, 2015
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Two members of the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team will begin their first tournament of the fall as the ‘Dores will be represented in the ITA All-Americans. Sponsored by Saint Frances Health System and hosted by The University of Tulsa, this is the second national championship tournament of the 2015-16 season.
Head coach Ian Duvenhage will travel to Tulsa, Okla. with senior Rhys Johnson and sophomore Daniel Valent, as both athletes will be competing in singles and doubles action. Pre-qualifying matches are slated to begin on Saturday, Oct. 3, with qualifying matches starting on Oct. 5 and main draw contests getting underway on Oct. 8. The singles and doubles finals are scheduled for Oct. 12.
Participating in the main draw singles play, sophomore Daniel Valent will make his debut in this renowned championship after going 31-6 in singles action last season and earning Second Team All-SEC honors and a spot on the SEC All-Freshmen team. The Zurich, Switzerland heads into his sophomore season with a career-high ranking of No. 49 in the nation.
Senior Commodore Rhys Johnson has been chosen to compete in singles qualifiers, which are set to begin Oct. 5th at 1:00 pm CT. Johnson is slated to compete against the 16th prequalifier. Out of the 128 student-athletes selected to compete in qualifiers, only 16 have the opportunity to advance into main draw play. Having nearly made it to the main draw in 2014, the Perth, Australia native looks for redemption in this season’s tournament.
Together, Johnson and Valent have been selected to battle against some of the best doubles teams in the country in main draw play. This will be Johnson’s second appearance in All-American doubles play, as he and Gonzales Austin advanced out of qualifies to make it all the way to quarters of tournament main draw last season.
Having never competed in a match together, Oct. 8th will be the team’s first outing. Johnson and Valent begin their playing career as the No. 21 tandem in the nation with luck in their favor as a doubles team from the SEC has won 6 of the past 10 Saint Francis ITA Men’s All-American Championship titles.
Format: No-ad, best two-out-of-three sets in singles for all draws. No-ad, best two-out-of-three sets with a Match Tiebreak in lieu of the third set in all doubles draws.
Singles quarterfinalists, doubles finalists and consolation champions will receive an automatic entry into the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Nov. 12-15, held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The main draw matches, Oct. 8-12, will be streamed live at www.tulsahurricane.com/watch/?Live=59