ROME, GA – Divisional singles and doubles champions were crowned on the third day of competition at the 2018 ITA Cup, hosted by the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.
The four divisional singles champions (per gender) not only took home the top prize from the ITA Cup but qualified to play in the concluding event of the fall season, the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Featuring the top talent from Division I, along with the automatic qualifiers from the ITA Cup, the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships is the only collegiate event to bring all five divisions of collegiate tennis together to compete for a national championship.
The 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships take place November 7-11, at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona.
Doubles divisional champions were also decided on Saturday at the ITA Cup, and following semifinal ITA Cup action, two teams (per gender) are a match away from earning their spot in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
The men’s doubles ITA Cup final features Valentino Caratini and Ayed Zatar of Georgia Gwinnett taking on Columbus State’s Alvaro Regalado and Zach Whaanga, while the women’s doubles final has Tyler Junior College’s Maria Genovese and Anna Brogan playing Barry’s Verena Schmid and Zuza Maciejewska.
Regalado and Whaanga defeated Emory’s Jonathan Jemison and Adrien Bouchet 6-4, 7-6 (4) in one semifinal, while Caratini and Zatar topped Gabriel Nery and Sander Jans of Seward County Community College 6-4, 6-4.
In the women’s doubles ITA Cup semifinals, Genovese and Brogan scored a 6-2, 6-2 victory over San Diego Christian’s Sarah Urbanek and Nadine Geschke 6-2, 6-2, while Schmid and Maciejewska prevailed over Caroline Cox and Catherine Allen of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 6-4, 6-3.
The 2018 ITA Cup concludes on Sunday with ITA Cup men’s and women’s doubles championship matches. To view updated draws, live streaming links courtesy of PlaySight, event recaps and photos, check out the official event page .
NAIA
In the all-Georgia Gwinnett men’s singles final, No. 2 seed Federico Herrera Duran emerged victorious over No. 1 seed Mika Kosonen 6-4, 6-2 to claim the ITA Cup NAIA men’s singles championship and the automatic entry into the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
The men’s doubles final also featured an all-Georgia Gwinnett matchup, with top-seeded Ayed Zatar and Valentino Caratini besting No. 2 Federico Herrera Duran and Rafael Coutinho 7-6 (8), 6-3.
Georgia Gwinnett also took home the women’s singles championship, as top-seeded Madeline Bosnjak outlasted No. 2 Anais Gabriel of Keiser University 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in Saturday’s final. With the win, Bosnjak qualifies for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
San Diego Christian captured the women’s doubles title, as top-seeded Nadine Geschke and Sarah Urbanek defeated the No. 3-seeded team from Brenau University, Peeraya Charoensirisutthikul and Rebecca Pijls 6-4, 6-4 in Saturday’s final.
Division III
A day after topping the No. 1 seed in the men’s singles draw, No. 4 seed Boris Sorkin of Tufts picked up another win over a higher seed, this one to not only claim the DIII men’s singles title at the 2018 ITA Cup, but to qualify for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships as well. Sorkin rallied from a set down to outlast No. 2 seed Chad Leduff of UC Santa Cruz 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to take home the title.
The No. 1 seed in the women’s singles draw, Emory’s Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico is headed to Surprise following her 6-4, 6-1 victory in Saturday’s final over No. 2 Lauren O’Malley of John Carroll University. The Emory sophomore didn’t drop a set in any of her three singles matches at the 2018 ITA Cup, en route to earning the championship.
Emory’s unseeded men’s doubles duo of Jonathan Jemison and Adrien Bouchet claimed the DIII men’s doubles title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Bowdoin’s Yangeng Jiang and Justin Wang.
The women’s doubles title belongs to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, as the No. 2-seeded team of Caroline Cox and Catherine Allen battled past Carnegie Mellon’s Danna Taylor and Melissa Strome in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Division II
Top-seeded Kiranpal Pannu of Columbus State successfully defended his DII Men’s Singles title at the 2018 ITA Cup and is headed to the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. In Saturday’s final, Pannu took on No. 2 seed Pierre Montrieul of Barry University and pulled out a straight set victory 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Berta Bonardi is the 2018 ITA Cup Division II Women’s Singles Champion, thanks to her 6-4, 6-1 decision over Isabella Dunlap of Central Oklahoma in Saturday’s final. Bonardi, who upset No. 1 seed Hanna Volikova of Indianapolis in the semifinals, earns the automatic entry into the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
Columbus State also took home the men’s doubles title, as top-seeded Zach Whaanga and Alvaro Regalado defeated No. 3 seed Filip Kesina and Jakob Schnaitter of Azusa Pacific in three sets 7-5, 0-6, 6-2.
Barry’s Zuza Maciejewska and Verena Schmid, the No. 2-seeded team from Barry, claimed the DII women’s doubles championship with a 6-1, 6-2 win over the No. 4-seeded team from Columbus State, Beatriz Lopez and Marleen Tilgner 6-1, 6-2.
JUCO
Nicolas Rousset of Seward County Community College and Alex Parker of Tyler Junior College faced off on Saturday for the JUCO men’s singles championship. The No. 4 seed Rousset had already defeated one Tyler JC player, topping No. 1 seed and defending champion Marcus Walters in the semifinals. Rousset made it 2-0 against Tyler JC with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 2 Parker to win the championship and qualify for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
Top-seeded Maria Genovese of Tyler JC is the 2018 ITA Cup JUCO Women’s Singles Champion, following her 6-1, 6-0 victory over No. 2 Molly Helgesson of ASA Miami. Genovese qualified for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships with the win.
Geonvese also earned the JUCO Women’s Doubles Championship, as she and teammate Anna Brogan won the final over No. 2 Michaela Krauskova and Tatiana Simova 6-2, 6-1. The top-seeded champions advanced to the ITA Cup semifinals with the win.
In men’s doubles, it was the Seward CCC team of Gabriel Nery and Sander Jans that emerged victorious, as they claimed a 6-3, 6-4 decision over ASA Miami’s Sergio Ingles and Matthew Carroll in Saturday’s championship match.
