Nearly 30,000 men and women have competed in ITA Summer Circuit events since 1993. The circuit allows college (and junior and alumni) players to compete in organized events virtually year-round. Although the primary focus of the circuit is to provide incoming freshman and collegiate players the chance to compete in the summer months, for NCAA compliance purposes, the events within the ITA Summer Circuit are categorized as “open”; therefore, anyone is eligible to compete in these events as long as he/she is a current ITA member.
Indiana University was the host site for the 2012 USTA/ITA Summer Circuit Championships, August 11-14, 2012.
Championships Recap
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After a grinding month of regional summer tournaments, the 2012 USTA/ITA Summer Circuit came to a close at Indiana University with Illinois’ Farris Gosea winning the men’s national singles championship and Whitney Kay of North Carolina claiming the women’s title.
Tennessee’s John Collins and Hunter Reese won the men’s doubles draw, while Nebraska’s Mary Weatherholt and Katie Zordani of Iowa claimed the women’s doubles crown.
By virtue of winning the USTA/ITA National Summer Championship, the singles winners have automatically received a wild card entry into the main draw of the 2012 ITA All-American Championships. The ITA Men’s All-American Championship (Sept. 29-Oct. 7) and will be held in Tulsa and the women’s Riviera/ITA All-American Championship (Sept. 29-Oct. 7) in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Gosea didn’t drop a set the entire tournament en route to capturing the men’s singles title. It was a Big 10 showdown in the championship match as Gosea took on unseeded Sam Monette of Indiana. Monette’s path to the finals came by knocking off three seeded players. The finals match was a classic tale of two sets as Gosea squeezed out the first in tiebreaker before blanking Monette in the second to win the men’s title 7-6, 6-0.
“It was a pretty tough match,” said Gosea. “I was able to watch his semifinals match and that gave me some insight on how he plays. It’s a pretty huge prize (to qualify for All-Americans) to come away with the win was great. I’ve had a pretty good summer, I’ve been playing well and it’s a good way to end the summer on a high note.”
The top-seeded team of John Collins and Hunter Reese took home the doubles title with an 8-5 victory over Patrick Elliott and Cliff Morrison of Ball State. As doubles champions, Collins and Reese have earned a wild card entry into the ITA All-American Championship.
Incoming North Carolina freshman Whitney Kay defeated future teammate Caroline Price, 6-4, 1-0 (retired) in the women’s singles championship match. Price, who will enter her sophomore season at UNC this fall, retired in the second set due to injury.
Although unseeded, Kay breezed through the field, dropping no fewer than three games in any of her four matches before being pushed to a tie-breaker in the semifinals against Yale’s Hanna Yu. Kay’s toughest task might had been emotional, especially in the finals.
“It’s kind of unfortunate to have to play a teammate in the finals, but we have had some good matches back and fourth against each other,” said Kay, “I thought I played pretty well during the tournament, I was looking to come in and get some match play experience. I had some tough matches, but overall, felt everything was working well with my game.”
The victory on the campus of Indiana University will allow Kay to faceoff against the top collegiate players in the country this fall at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity, especially being a freshman,” said Kay, who has a fraternal twin brother (Casey) playing for the Georgia men’s team.
Mary Weatherholt and Katie Zordani teammed to capture the women’s doubles title with an 8-4 win over Maci Epstein of Virginia and Anne Sullivan of Yale.
Weatherholt-Zordani won four matches en route to the title after earning a first-round bye as one of the top seven seeds in the field.
