ITA Announces Women’s and Men’s D1 Preseason Rankings
Oyster Bay’s Elbaba cracks top 10 in Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings
With the 2015-16 collegiate tennis year getting underway, the ITA has announced the 2015 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Women's and Men’s Division I Preseason Rankings.
In addition, selections for the 2015 Riviera/ITA Women's and Men’s All-American Championships have been made public and the first national championship of the year begins this week in Malibu, Calif., as the Malibu Racquet Club plays host to the inaugural Oracle/ITA Masters.
Stanford's Carol Zhao will begin the year as top-ranked singles player. Last year's NCAA Singles runner-up, Zhao has also displayed excellent prowess in doubles, as she and 2014-15 partner Taylor Davidson were the number two-ranked team and finished the year with a 33-8 mark.
Florida's Brooke Austin, who ended last year with a number four national ranking and SEC Player and Freshman of the Year honors, is ranked second in the preseason. Austin concluded her first year in Gainesville with a 32-8 singles record.
Virginia's Julia Elbaba, a three-time ITA All-American, reached the top-spot in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings last season, before ultimately settling in to the number five position. She's ranked third to begin her senior season in Charlottesville. Cal's Maegan Manasse and Josie Kuhlman of Florida complete the top five individual rankings. Elbaba and Manasse headline the women's singles draw at the 2015 Oracle/ITA Masters.
With Austin and Kuhlman, the Gators feature two players in the top five. Virginia is the only other institution with two players ranked in the top 10, with Elbaba and number eight Danielle Collins, the 2014 NCAA Singles National Champion.
Georgia leads all teams with six student-athletes in the top 125. The ACC has four players in the top 10, with the Pac-12 (three) and SEC (three) also sporting multiple top 10 players.
In doubles, Austin & Kourtney Keegan hold down the top spot. Austin and Cal's Manasse are the only players to hold top five rankings in both singles and doubles. UCLA's Catherine Harrison & Kyle McPhillips, last year's winners at the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, are the number two-ranked team. Cal's Manasse & Denise Starr, Vanderbilt's Sydney Campbell & Courtney Colton and Texas A&M's Eva Paalma & Rachel Pierson comprise the numbers three to five positions.
Ohio State's Francesca DiLorenzo, a semifinalist at the 2015 U.S. Open Junior Championships, is the first Buckeyes player to be listed in the Freshman/Newcomer rankings, and she enters at the top of the list. Duke has two players in the top 10 with Ellyse Hamlin at sixth and Kaitlyn McCarthy at number nine.
For the 32nd year, the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., will serve as the host site for the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships. The national event is set to begin Oct. 3 with prequalifying singles and doubles matches. Main draw action is slated for Oct. 8-11.
On the men’s side, Oklahoma's Axel Alvarez Llamas, who ended the 2014-2015 season as the nation's top-ranked singles player, finds himself atop the 2015 preseason rankings. Alvarez Llamas is the first top-ranked player to appear back at the top of the rankings the next season since USC's Steve Johnson in 2012. He concluded the 2014-2015 season with a 39-6 record in singles play, including a run of 23 consecutive victories.
Ryan Shane of Virginia, the 2015 NCAA National Singles Champion, is ranked number two, while Mackenzie McDonald of UCLA, fresh off of his win at the 2015 American Collegiate Invitational at the U.S. Open, is in the number three position. Baylor's Julian Lenz and Notre Dame's Quentin Monaghan round out the top five. Alvarez Llamas, Shane, Lenz and Monaghan will all take part in this week's Oracle/ITA Masters.
Virginia and Oklahoma each have two student-athletes in the top 10, as the Sooners' Andrew Harris is sixth, while the Cavaliers' Thai-Son Kwiatkowski holds down the number eight ranking.
The ACC has five players in the top 10 and seven in the top 20, while the Big 12 has three in the top 10 and six in the top 20. The SEC, Pac-12, American and Big Ten all feature at least one individual in the top 20.
Virginia leads all institutions with six student-athletes ranked in the top 125. Florida and North Carolina each have five ranked players.
In doubles, Georgia's Austin Smith & Ben Wagland garnered the number one ranking. Smith and Wagland finished the 2014-2015 season second in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, reached the NCAA National Doubles Quarterfinals and were 2-0 against last year's preseason number one-ranked team of Mikelis Libietis & Hunter Reese.
Shane finds himself also ranked number two doubles, along with teammate Luca Corinteli. Texas Tech's Felipe Soares & Hugo Dojas are number three, with LSU's Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle & Wake Forest's Christian Seraphim & Skander Mansouri at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Virginia, South Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Florida and Cal each have two ranked doubles teams.
Mazen Osama of Alabama is the top-ranked New Player, the first time a member of the Crimson Tide has been featured in the New Player ranking. Stanford has two players, Sameer Kumar at number three and Michael Genender at number seven, in the top 10.
For the ninth straight year, the University of Tulsa will be the site of the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships. The tournament kicks off with prequalifying matches starting on Oct. 3, while the main draw is runs Oct. 8-12.
