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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Boys USTA Summer Team Set; NCAA Championship Sites Announced; Florida Women Remain No. 1 Despite Loss

The USTA camp to select the boys Team USA summer team was completed today at Lake Nona, with seven of the eight players earning their spots through a round robin competition.  The 16-and-under players named to the team are:

Govind Nanda (automatically qualified)
Alex Lee
Cannon Kingsley
Andrew Dale
Marcus McDaniel
William Grant
Siem Woldeab
Blaise Bicknell

Obviously not all the top 16-and-under players eligible participated, with Easter Bowl champion Brandon Nakashima, finalist Stefan Dostanic and Junior Davis Cup team member Tristan Boyer among those missing.

For the round robin results, click here.  A tournament was then held for the top eight finishers from the round robin groups. That draw is here.


The NCAA announced the host venues for the NCAA championships for the four years beginning in 2019.

For Division I Tennis:
2019--USTA National Campus, Lake Nona Florida, University of Central FL
2020--Oklahoma State, Stillwater OK
2021--USTA National Campus, Lake Nona Florida, UCF
2011--University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana IL

For Division II Tennis:
2019--Rollins and Central Florida Sports Commission, Sanlando Park, Atlamonte Springs FL
2020--Lindenwood Mo, St. Charles CVB and St. Louis Sports Commission, St. Louis MO
2021--Pacific West Conference and City of Surprise, Surprise Arizona
2011--Rollins and Central Florida Sports Commission, Sanlando Park, Atlamonte Springs FL

For Division III Tennis:
2019--Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo MI
2020--Washington-St. Louis, St. Louis MO
2021--Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Claremont CA
2022--Oglethorpe and Central Florida Sports Commission, USTA National Campus, Lake Nona FL

I'm excited to see the Division III tournament returning to Kalamazoo so soon and look forward to covering it as I did last year when it was here.

I had heard doubts expressed about the Division I tournament being held at an off-campus site such as the USTA's National Campus, but I think some of those concerns may have been allayed by the obvious commitment to college tennis that the USTA demonstrated this dual match season. The college facility there is perfect for the event, although as with most venues, rain during the tournament will present problems, with just six indoor courts onsite.

As a reminder, here are the sites for 2017 and 2018:

Division I
2017--University of Georgia
2018--Wake Forest

Division II
2017--Altamonte Springs Florida
2018--Surprise Arizona

Division III
2017--Chattanooga Tennessee
2018--Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

The NCAA release on all its championship venues for all divisions can be found here.

The latest ITA Division I rankings are out, with the same two teams at the top.  Despite its loss to Vanderbilt, the Florida women maintained their No. 1 position. Vanderbilt moved up to No. 2, the most significant movement in either ranking list this week. Wake Forest remains No. 1 in the men's team rankings.  The No. 1s in both men's and women's singles and doubles also are unchanged from last week. Click on the heading to see the full rankings.

Women's team Top 10 (previous ranking in parentheses):
1. Florida (1)
2. Vanderbilt (5)
3. North Carolina (3)
4. Georgia (2)
5. Ohio State (4)
6. Georgia Tech (6)
7. Texas Tech University (7)
8. Stanford (10)
9. Oklahoma State (8)
10. Michigan (9)

Women's singles Top 10:
1. Francesca Di Lorenzo, Ohio State (1)
2. Hayley Carter, North Carolina (2)
3. Ena Shibahara, UCLA (3)
4. Astra Sharma, Vanderbilt (4)
5. Blair Shankle, Baylor University (5)
6. Belinda Woolcock, Florida (7)
7. Viktoriya Lushkova, Oklahoma State (6)
8. Sara Daavettila, North Carolina (8)
9. Gabriela Talaba, Texas Tech (10)
10. Jasmine Lee, Mississippi State (16)

Women's doubles Top 5:
1. Hayley Carter and Jessie Aney, North Carolina (1)
2. Aldila Sutjiadi and Mami Adachi, Kentucky (2)
3. Astra Sharma and Emily Smith, Vanderbilt (5)
4. Ellen Perez and Caroline Brinson, Georgia (11)
5. Jasmine Lee and Lisa Marie Rioux, Mississippi State (3)

Men's team Top 10:
1. Wake Forest (1)
2. Ohio State University (2)
3. Virginia (3)
4. Baylor University (4)
5. Oklahoma State (5)
6. Southern California (6)
7. Texas (8)
8. UCLA (7)
9. TCU (9)
10. Texas A&M (10)

Men's singles Top 10:
1. Mikael Torpegaard, Ohio State (1)
2. Cameron Norrie, TCU (3)
3. Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest University (2)
4. Nuno Borges, Mississippi State (4)
5. Aleks Vukic, Illinois (6)
6. Arthur Rinderknech, Texas A&M (8)
7. Christopher Eubanks, Georgia Tech (5)
8. Hugo Di Feo, Ohio State (7)
9. Alfredo Perez, Florida (9)
10. Michael Redlicki, Arkansas (11)

Men's doubles Top 5:
1. Christian Seraphim and Skander Mansouri, Wake Forest (1) 1
2. Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat, California (4)
3. Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb, Georgia (2)
4. Arjun Kadhe and Julian Cash, Oklahoma State (3)
5. William Blumberg and Robert Kelly, North Carolina (8)

14 comments:

Wondering said...

How about Roddick getting to coach the "home" team at the NCAAs 3 times in 6 years.

With the NCAAs on a steady rotation and the Team Indoors on a sometimes rotation, why is it that the Fall All-American event doesn't now move around the country at least on occasion?

Colette, with the USTA getting it twice in this "block," does that mean that no West Coast school (i.e., Stanford) bid?

Colette Lewis said...

Re: Roddick, he will have to be one of the top 8 teams in those 2 D-I years, since the SuperRegionals start in 2019. Not sure what you're referring to in saying 3 times in 6 years.
To me, no Athens in the next five years is the real news in Division I. Like Stanford, they do not have 6 indoor courts on campus, which I believe was the minimum necessary to bid.

Deplorable Locations... said...

Those are 4 of the worst locations to host NCAA's. Lake Nona which is NOT on a college campus, Stillwater (awful), and Champaign. I feel sorry for the college players entering as freshman in 2018. What happened to Athens or Palo Alto? This is a real shame for college tennis.

Al Roker said...

D1 NCAA Tennis Championships....Lake Nona, Florida...May 16-25,2019....May 20-29,2021.....Weather Forecast...100 degrees and RAIN...can you say.."Indoors":)

Jeff said...

Georgia is quite often referred to as the Mecca of College Tennis. To leave them out is a crime, especially when the majority of college coaches in the country would choose that site above all others. I know the indoor situation is a problem, but at all the selected sites, you can only have one indoor match at a time, and the second match usually has to travel a great distance. Last year, matches were sent from Tulsa to Stillwater. How is this any different?

Wondering said...

Oklahoma was basically a "home" team in Tulsa last spring. No, it's not technically (Norman/OKC), but there are a lot of Sooners in and near Tulsa.

With Roddick's track record, odds are good he will have a top 10, likely top 8 team in 2 years.

With OU and then UCF, he has the chance be the (Home, err) heavily supported team 3 out of 6 years.

I agree about the UGA comments. It's a shame it won't be back there for a such a long time. It's essentially the home of college. The tournament is the biggest deal in town during that period. The majority of coaches and players seem to prefer it over any location. You would think it would stay in a once every 4 years rotation.

College Fan said...

First thing I noticed as well - no Georgia. Having an NCAA Champion, I can tell you my player's first choice and always choice for NCAAs would be Athens. Glad he got to experience the glory which is the NCAA tournament in Athens, Georgia. Sorry to hear others won't see that again for at least awhile. Thank you to UGA and your tennis fans for the fantastic southern hospitality during the many NCAA tournaments we attended over last decade - great memories were had there. Hope we don't hear next that they are eliminating blueberries and cream from Kalamazoo!

Genius Bar said...

Who makes the decisions on final host sites for NCAA's? How much does the ITA play in that role?

Very disappointing to have the NCAA's not on a college campus, not in athens for a significant amount of time.

The fix said...

The ties between the USTA and the ITA are tight and deep, now more with Russell being in charge of the ITA. The alleged bidding process looks like window dressing. The mission of the USTA for Lake Nona. Capture as many events as possible and maximize the usage of the place. Player Development will continue offering its free services but the odds that the place will produce American champions is unlikely. Sooner or later standouts form their own team and move on. Example, Sock, Isner and others. The general opinion is that the ITA sold out, as many have commented already.

Go Hoos! said...

Ironically, UGA's indoor facility has a great "atmosphere" for the NCAAs, especially when UGA is not among the final 4 teams.

I've watched incredibly exciting matches there. Yes, it's only 4 courts, but the small size enables you to be right on top of the players and the court. One of the best night's of tennis I can remember was watching UVA/Pepperdine and SC/UCLA play at the same time. Some incredible high level tennis all easily viewed. Plus, with how loud it is and how well it holds the noise, the intensity seems even greater than outside. Every team's supporters can make considerable noise. Whereas outdoors, some schools from across the country won't have enough fans to make a difference outside

Even though UVA lost a heartbreaker in the finals, the dramat against SC was incredible. Now if Georgia were contending for the NCAAs, the indoor courts might be a madhouse, but in most years, it's actually a surprisingly great place to watch high level tennis.

Though it doesn't seem that "atmosphere" is a consideration in choosing sites. Otherwise, UGA would get to host at least once every four years.

TheTruth said...

I think most college kids love the idea of playing at new USTA home in Orlando.

athens said...

@thetruth - I completely agree. Personally, I love Athens. Always thought it would be great to make it the permanent site, been there for ncaas about 6 times. That said, the new USTA facility is really nice and I think a lot of the college players will enjoy going there, be excited about it. They've had several big crowds for their match days this spring, see no reason why they won't be able to fill the stands for NCAAs.

College Tennis Fan said...

the USTA Lake Nona Venue is BIG....HUGE...but big isn't always the best. The NCAA's Final Rounds should be done on a College Campus. I love UGA,UI,TCU,Stanford, USC..etc, any college campus. USTA might want talk to the Air Traffic Controllers and reroute all Planes coming into Orlando during the NCAA's...and with the heat and the rain and the wind during the month of May...this traditional college tennis fan is disappointed in the decision. Good luck to everyone involved..and by the way...don't try to use the USTA workout facility...it's only for the Top 150 in the ATP

Live Stream Listener said...

Kolov get's a nice, polite warning from the chair in the Tallahassee Challenger.." alittle too much talking with your coach during the match..."...what? I didn't think players were able to talk to their coaches at all during the match?..."alittle too much"? Give me a break! No warning...give them a Point Penalty and tell them to shut the hell up!