The ITA men’s All-American Championship is one of the three college grand slam tournaments.
And the Cal men’s tennis team will only send one player this year.
Cal junior Ben McLachlan will play in one of the biggest tournaments of the fall preseason in Tulsa, Okla. McLachlan will start the college grand slam tournament Thursday in the main draw, and the event will end Sunday, Oct. 7.
Although the event started off with pre-qualifying rounds on Sept. 29, the team did not enter anyone into the first round. In fact, Cal did not send any players into the qualifying rounds that will take place. No. 16 Ben McLachlan, the only Cal player to have qualified for the main draw based on his ranking last year, will be Cal’s sole representative at the tournament. He will start tournament play in the main draw this Thursday.
“We tend to only take the players that have been placed directly into the main draw,” Wright said. “And we believed Ben was the best player to represent us.”
McLachlan will travel to Tulsa’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center to play against the best individual players from top schools across the country. Although last year’s singles champion, Virginia’s Mitchell Frank, is out for the tournament due to an injury, other top players will fill out the 2012 field.
The top-ranked player in the Campbell/ITA Division 1 Preseason rankings, Henrique Cunha of Duke, will make his fourth straight All-American singles appearance this season. Virginia’s Alex Domijan return as 2010 ITA All-American singles champion and 2012 NCAA quarterfinalist.
Last year, Cal sent four members to participate in the qualifying rounds: Nick Andrews, Carlos Cueto, McLachlan and Christoffer Konigsfeldt.
Despite fighting their way through the three qualifying rounds, the four members of the Cal team lost all of their singles and doubles matches.
However, because the format of the event includes consolation matches, the No. 5 doubles team of then-senior Andrews and junior Konigsfeldt entered the doubles consolation pool to make a comeback. After conquering all three of their opponents, Andrews and Konigsfeldt clinched the doubles consolation title.
“Even if you have a bad day, you can come back — that’s what we did last year,” said Wright. “It’s a great tournament that allows us to see (players’) strengths.”
This year, Ben McLachlan will be taking over the role of Cal’s standout player on the top court. But if he is to fill out that role, he will need practice before the spring season.
The All-American Championship will afford such an opportunity.
“At this stage in the season, we’re just looking for (Ben) to get some experience, which will help us perform better in the spring season,” said Wright. “That’s our goal for Tulsa, and ultimately for all our fall tournaments.”
Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at [email protected]
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