Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. I’m super excited to share some awesome news with you all about the upcoming ITA All-American Championships. This event is one of the most anticipated in college tennis, and this year’s pre-qualifying draws have just been announced!
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has announced the pre-qualifying draws for both the ITA Women’s All-American Championships and the ITA Men’s All-American Championships. These tournaments are set to kick off this Saturday, featuring draws of 128 players for singles and 32 teams for doubles. The pre-qualifying play will continue through Sunday, September 22, determining the 16 singles players and eight teams advancing to the qualifying draw.
For the men’s draw, we have some top-notch players who are looking to make a big impact. Names like Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State), Togan Tokac (Texas A&M), Jelani Sarr (South Carolina), Niccolo Baroni (Mississippi State), and Oscar Lacides (Oklahoma) will all be vying to win three matches over the opening two days of play to keep their championship hopes alive. As returners, Nakashima, Tokac, and Sarr enter the 2024-25 season ranked in the top 125 of the August 27th ITA Preseason Singles Rankings. Each will be looking to take their game to the next level this season and continue to improve their national ranking over the fall season.
Meanwhile, Baroni and Lacides enter the All-American Championships as two of the top ten newcomers in the country. Baroni, a 20-year-old from Italy enrolling at Mississippi State, carries a 6.0 WTN into the Championship, while Lacides, hailing from Guadeloupe, begins his collegiate career with an impressive 6.5 WTN.
Across the women’s draw, many top newcomers are set to get their first shot at an ITA Championship. Malak El Allami (Columbia), Talia Neilson-Gatenby (Florida), Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (Texas), and Kate Fakih (UCLA) will all be in Pre-Qualifying play. El Allami, fresh from winning the US Open Girl’s Doubles Draw alongside Emily Sartz-Lunde just a few weeks ago, enters the All-American Championships with a 14.5 WTN. Neilson-Gatenby, Anazagasty-Pursoo, and Fakih all enter as top newcomers in the Preseason Newcomer Rankings.
In the men’s doubles draw, some of the top-seeded teams include Arthus de la Bassetiere/Kabeer Kapasi (Rice) (1), Maxime St-Hilaire/Frank Thompson (Virginia Tech) (2), Luis Carlos Alvarez Valdes/Khololwam Montsi (Oklahoma) (3), and Rudy Quan/Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) (4). For the women’s doubles draw, top-seeded teams include Valeria Ray/Bridget Stammel (Vanderbilt) (1), Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo/Carmen Andreea Herea (Texas) (2), Gracie Mulville/Heike Janse Van Vuuren (Kansas) (3), and Florentine Dekkers/Gaby Rivera (LSU) (4).
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