Preseason Rankings and All-American Championships Selections Announced

2011 Preseason Ranks and All-American

ITA Announces Campbell/ITA Division I Preseason Rankings  

Selections for the 2011 ITA All-American Championships also released


SKILLMAN, N.J. - Though the US Open is drawing to a close, championship tennis in the United States continues this fall. The nation's top collegiate tennis players are hard at work on campuses across the country, preparing for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) first national events of the 2011-12 season.

 

On Friday, the ITA announced selections for the ITA Men's All-American Championships and the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships. The Top 10 singles seeds in each event also comprise the Top 10 in the 2011 Campbell/ITA Division I Preseason Rankings.

Both All-American tournaments begin with prequalifying matches on Saturday, October 1st. Main draw play is scheduled to start on Thursday, October 6th.

 

The Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships will be hosted by the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., for the 26th consecutive year, while the ITA Men's All-American Championships will be held at the University of Tulsa for the fifth straight season. 

Highlighting this year's men's singles field is defending champion Alex Domijan of the University of Virginia, who last year became only the third freshman in history to win the ITA Men's All-American Championships singles title. Domijan was named the 2011 ITA National Rookie of the Year following a phenomenal first season at Virginia, in which he posted a 37-3 overall singles record and a 27-1 mark in dual-meet matches.

 

The 6-foot-7 sophomore finished the 2010-11 season ranked No. 4 in the Campbell/ITA Singles Rankings. He jumps to No. 1 in the 2011-12 preseason poll with year-end No. 3 Rhyne Williams (Tennessee) turning pro, No. 2 Michael Shabaz (Virginia) having graduated and No. 1 Steve Johnson (USC) sitting the fall season out.

Also in this year's Tulsa field and rounding out the Top 10 Campbell/ITA Preseason Rankings are (in order): Blaz Rola of Ohio State, Eric Quigley of Kentucky, Henrique Cunha of Duke, Chase Buchanan of Ohio State, Wil Spencer of Georgia, Dennis Nevolo of Illinois, Evan King of Michigan, Jose Hernandez of North Carolina and Sebastian Fanselow of Pepperdine.


The doubles field features Georgia Tech's top-ranked duo of Kevin King and Juan Spir, who reached the 2011 NCAA Division I doubles semifinals and finished the 2010-11 season with a 34-11 record.

Headlining this year's Riviera/ITA All-American field is 2011 Campbell/ITA National College Player of the Year Jana Juricova of the University of California. A 5-foot-11 senior from the Slovak Republic, Juricova has dominated women's collegiate tennis during her first three seasons.

 

The 2011 NCAA Division I singles title is the latest in a long line of accolades for the top-ranked Juricova. A five-time ITA All-American, Juricova also won the 2009 USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships singles title and the 2009 NCAA Division I doubles title.

Also Riviera bound and rounding out the women's singles Top 10 are: Allie Will of Florida, Kristy Frilling of Notre Dame, Denise Dy of Washington, Lauren Embree of Florida, Zoe De Bruycker of North Carolina, Nicole Gibbs of Stanford, Josipa Bek of Clemson, Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia and Marta Lesniak of SMU. 

 

Bek and Keri Wong are the top-ranked team entered in Riviera's women's doubles draw. Last season, the Tigers reached the 2011 NCAA Division I doubles final and set a Clemson record with 34 wins as a team. 


Several former ITA All-American champions have made a major impact at the 2011 US Open, led by men's doubles finalist Marcin Matkowski (UCLA) and men's singles quarterfinalist John Isner (Georgia). Other notable past winners include James Blake (Harvard), Bob Bryan (Stanford) and Irina Falconi (Georgia Tech).

 

Complete Campbell/ITA Preseason Rankings and ITA All-American Championships selections can be found by clicking the links below:

 

Division I Men's Singles Rankings 

 

Division I Women's Singles Rankings 

 

ITA Men's All-American Championships selections 

 

Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships selections

Additional Information