FORT WORTH, Texas – The Oracle ITA National Summer Championships open Friday in Fort Worth. The championships are hosted by TCU and will take place August 9-13. The qualifying draws begin on Friday with main play starting on Saturday. (You can visit the tournament host website here, and check out the draws here.)
This year marks the second season that Oracle and the ITA are awarding prize money at the Oracle ITA National Summer Championships. The distribution amounts are as follows:
- Main Draw Singles: Champion ($3,000); Finalist ($1,500); Semifinalists ($750); Quarterfinals ($375)
- Main Draw Doubles: Champion ($1,250 split between team); Finalist ($625 split between teams); Quarterfinals ($312.50 split between team)
WOMEN’S TOP SEEDS
No. 1 Ellie Douglas, Texas Christian University Wild Card, Sophomore, McKinney, Texas, UTR: 11.53
A highly sought-after junior who made the final of the Easter Bowl Junior Nationals, Douglas had a stellar first year as she was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year. She landed on the All-Big 12 singles first team, the All-Big 12 doubles second team and in early February was tabbed Big 12 Player of the Week.
No. 2 Anna Rogers, N.C. State Senior, Stamford, Conn. UTR: 11.29
Reached a program-high No. 8 Oracle/ITA Division I Singles ranking mid-season for the Wolf Pack. Ranked No. 13 in final Oracle/ITA Division I Singles Rankings, the highest finish in program history. Finished season at No. 4 in doubles rankings, the highest doubles ranking in program history.
No. 3 Anna Bright, Cal-Berkeley Junior, Boca Raton, Fla. UTR: 11.18
Completed her sophomore season for the Bears with records of 27-10 in singles and 20-11 in doubles. She made the final during Week 2 of the ITA Summer Circuit at UC-Davis in Northern California. Playing in her home state of Florida, Bright came back to win the Week 5 Summer Circuit event at the University of Florida.
No. 4 Chelsea Kung, Yale University Freshman, Fort Worth, Texas. UTR: 11.15
The recent Keller Central High School graduate made recruiting trips to Cal-Berkeley and Rice in Houston before settling on the Ivy school in New Haven, Conn.
No. 5 Janice Shin, Stanford University, Junior, Houston. UTR: 11.13
Finished 29-5 overall and 19-3 in duals, including a 17-2 record at the No. 5 spot for the NCAA Champion Cardinal. Clinched five matches, including NCAA wins over Kansas, North Carolina and Georgia.
No. 6 Alana Smith, North Carolina State, Sophomore, Fort Washington, Md. UTR: 11.12
Became the Wolf Pack’s first All-American (w /Anna Rogers) after earning a top-eight seed in the NCAA Championships doubles draw. Has had some success on the ITF Pro Circuit with a highlight defeating the 2017-18 NCAA/ITA Preseason No. 1 ranked singles player (Ena Shibahara) in singles qualifying at the $60,000 Las Vegas Challenger event.
No. 7 Jessica Failla, Pepperdine University, Redshirt Junior, Ramona, Calif. UTR: 11.08
A USC transfer, Failla garnered All-Academic WCC honorable mention status for the Waves. She was also named to the All-WCC singles and doubles second teams.
No. 8 Kaitlin Staines, University of Tennessee, Junior, Wagga Wagga, Australia. UTR: 10.91
Named a doubles All-American with Sadie Hammond after earning the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Individual Championships for doubles. At the NCAA championships, fell in the round of 32.
The remaining seeds with college, hometown and UTR include: No. 9 Marlee Zein (Florida, Sugar Land, Texas, 10.86), No. 10 Martina Zerulo (Arkansas from Manfredonia, Italy, 10.8), No. 11 Tatum Rice (Arkansas, Hot Springs, Ark., 10.79), No. 12 Carolyn Campana (Vanderbilt, Hillsborough, Calif., 10.79), No. 13 Jayci Goldsmith (Texas A&M, Dripping Springs, Texas, 10.75), No. 14 Riley McQuaid (Texas A&M, Tustin, Calif., 10.73), No. 15 Claire Reifeis (Nebraska, Indianapolis, 10.71), and No. 16 Malkia Ngounoue (Kansas, Washington, D.C., 10.71).
Others in the field include several women’s players who took part in the six-week ITA Summer Circuit events, including new UCLA transfer from Georgia Annette Goulak (UTR 10.38). Goulak won the Week 5 tournament at Azusa Pacific won Week 6 at Northridge. She was a runner-up to Long Beach State’s Natalia Munoz during Week 2 at Pomona-Pitzer College. In the overall points standings, Goulak finished tied for third with Rachel Lim with 925 points.
Also unseeded in this weekend’s championships is Olivia Peet (UTA 10.43), who is from Manchester, England, and plays for Texas Tech. Peet, whose father Chris is a former pro tennis player, felt right at home winning at Lubbock’s Texas Tech Week 5 ITA Summer Circuit event. She also was a finalist at Abilene Christian during Week 1.
MEN’S TOP SEEDS
No. 1 Adam Walton, University of Tennessee Junior, Home Hill, Australia, UTR: 13.9
Walton clinched the Vols’ match against NC State in the NCAA Tournament, sending UT to its first Round of 16 appearances since 2014. Earned All-SEC First Team honors and was named to the SEC All-Tournament team.
No. 2 Parker Wynn, Texas Tech University Senior, North Richland Hills, Texas, UTR: 13.67
A former two-time All-ACC Third-Team selection at Louisville, Wynn was impressive during his first season in Lubbock. He was named 2019 All-Big 12 first team in doubles, All-Big 12 second team in singles, and made the NCAA Championships in doubles. Wynn had an impressive fall, which included a run to the doubles final of the 2019 ITA Fall National Championship.
No. 3 William Genesen, Stanford University Senior, Tulsa, Okla., UTR: 13.52
The ITA Scholar-Athlete competed at No. 4, 5 and No. 6 singles for the Cardinal. He finished his junior season 16-10 overall with an 8-4 mark in dual action. Contributed to team wins over No. 4 Georgia, No. 6 UCLA, No. 10 Illinois, No. 20 Arizona State and No. 36 California with victories in singles action.
No. 4 Will Little, Recent Baylor University Grad, Joplin, Mo., UTR: 13.5
Closed out career with a 75-37 singles record and 65-40 doubles mark. Went a career-best 23-6 in singles and posted 14-8 doubles record during senior season. Jumped to a career-best No. 17 in the ITA singles rankings after starting at No. 115 in the fall.
No. 5 Karl Poling, Princeton University Sophomore, West Point, N.Y., UTR: 13.47
Poling was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He was first-team All-Ivy League in singles and led his team with a 30-4 singles record, going 8-1 in the fall before a 22-3 spring that saw all 25 matches played between first, second and third singles.
No. 6 Bertus Kruger, Texas Christian University Junior, Johannesburg, South Africa, UTR: 13.26
Kruger is the tournament TCU wild card. He won eight singles and 13 doubles matches primarily playing the No. 6 position in singles during his freshman year. He was named Big 12 Player of the Week during his sophomore year.
No. 7 Mason Beiler, Oklahoma University Sophomore, New Port Richey, Fla., UTR: 13.14
Beiler finished his debut season at 19-11 overall. In the spring he appeared in the singles lineup in 25 of the Sooners’ 28 contests, playing primarily on court five. He led the team in singles wins with a 15-6 record. He recorded 12 of his wins in straight sets and clinched four matches for OU, including a 4-3 win over Texas A&M to send the Sooners to the NCAA round of 16 with a third-set tiebreaker win on court 5.
No. 8 Caleb Chakravarthi, University of Illinois Junior, Irvine, Calif., UTR: 12.97
A former Easter Bowl Junior National champion in doubles, Chakravarthi ranked as high as No. 25 in the nation in doubles to start his sophomore year and finished with a 13-10 singles record.
The remaining seeds with college, hometown and UTR include: No. 9 Sangeet Sridhar (Stanford, Scottsdale, Ariz., 12.9), No. 10 Robert Maciag (Former Duke recruit, Sterling, Va., 12.85), No. 11 Max Stewart (Oklahoma, Birmingham, England, 12.81), No. 12 Patrick Harper (Tennessee, Brisbane, Australia, 12.76), No. 13 A.J. Joshi (Northwestern, Longhill, N.J., 12.7), No. 14 Kevin Zhu (Pennsylvania, Pearland, Texas, 12.66), No. 15 Austin Abbrat (Texas A&M, Spring, Texas, 12.66), No. 16 Jonathan Sheehy (Abilene Christian, Arlington, Texas).
Other unseeded players taking part in the championships who had successful ITA Summer Circuit campaigns include: Pranav Kumar (12.47 UTR), who finished second overall behind Ryder Jackson in the overall points standings with 1,050 points. Kumar won three of the six summer events. Also playing this weekend is Trice Pickens (12.44 UTR), who won Week 2 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. Pickens hails from Cary, N.C., and was the 2018 National High School Coaches Association Boys’ Tennis Athlete of the Year. He currently plays for Northwestern and won the Week 1 event hosted by Northwestern. During Week 3, Pickens was a finalist and finished third overall in the points standings.
