Men's Tennis Sends a Trio to All-American Championships
10/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 2, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The men's tennis team is sending three players to Tulsa, Okla. to play in the 2009 D'Novo/ITA Men's All-American Championships. The tournament is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Oct. 3 and conclude on Sunday, Oct. 11. All action is being held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa.
"The D'Novo/ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa is the largest tournament of the year based on the number of participants," said head coach Billy Pate. "It includes the best players in the country and is the first leg of the national individual championships for singles and doubles."
The tournament kicks off on Oct. 3 with the pre-qualifying singles and doubles draws. The Crimson Tide has two players, senior Houssam Yassine and redshirt freshman Michael Davis, who will be competing in pre-qualifying singles. The draw is composed of 256 players, meaning a player must win four rounds to advance to the qualifying draw. The qualifying draws get under way Oct. 5 and finish on Oct. 7. The qualifying draw will have 128 players, and a player will have to win three rounds to gain entry into the main draw.
Main draw action will be held over the final four days of the tournament. Alabama senior Saketh Myneni is already in the main draw thanks to his national pre-season ranking of No. 10. The main draw will have a total of 64 players.
"We're happy that Saketh is in the main draw next week, and we're hopeful Michael Davis and Houssam Yassine can grind through the preliminary matches which start this weekend," added Pate. "Because of the heavy rain in Athens two weeks ago, we haven't been able to compete as much as we'd like, so these guys are ready to start playing. The next few weeks will offer a lot of competition."
The rest of the Tide team will head to Cambridge, Mass. next weekend to compete in the Harvard Fall Invitational. The tournament begins on Friday, Oct. 9 and end Sunday, Oct. 11.
