The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships begin tomorrow at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona and the draw is loaded with talent from top collegiate players to standout juniors. Ohio State and UCF have a big presence at the tournament — each have two players in the top eight seeds. Michigan, Illinois, Wake Forest and Stanford round out the other four seeds with one a piece.
For a complete look at the draws, visit the National Fall Championships event page. Play will begin Thursday morning with the men’s final scheduled for Sunday night following the women’s match at 4 PM ET. Both finals will be aired on ESPNU.
8. Trey Hilderbrand | UCF
Trey Hilderbrand rounds out the top eight seeds for the men’s draw at the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Hilderbrand is currently riding a nine match winning streak. He won back-to-back tournaments at the Lake Cane Tennis Center. After having to sit out the 2019 fall season due to an injury and the dual match season being cut short by the pandemic, Hilderbrand is ready to compete.
7. Siphos Montsi | Illinois
Fighting Illini junior Siphos Montsi will begin his bid for the men’s title midday on Thursday against Boise State redshirt sophomore Daniil Klimov. Montsi played the majority of the 2020 season at No. 3 for Illinois. He went 17-9 overall in singles last season and recorded a career-high singles ranking of No. 42. If he takes home the title, Montsi would be only the second Illinois player to claim the honor.
6. Andrew Fenty | Michigan
Michigan’s main guy Andrew Fenty comes to the National Fall Championships with a men’s doubles consolation title (2019) under his belt. During his sophomore season, Fenty shot to national prominence. He was named an ITA Singles and Doubles All-American and rose as high as No. 16 in the Oracle ITA Singles Rankings. Fenty’s highlight win from the 2020 season over reigning National Fall Championships champion Yuya Ito during the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. A title from Fenty would be the first since 1989 when Malivai Washington defeated teammate Dan Goldberg.
5. Eduardo Nava | Wake Forest
Wake Forest redshirt senior Eduardo Nava begins his quest for the National Fall Championship title midday Thursday against Michigan’s Patrick Maloney. Nava, who began his collegiate career at TCU, has never competed at the National Fall Championships before, but would be the second Demon Deacon to win the men’s title — Petros Chrysochos won in 2018.
4. Alexandre Rotsaert | Stanford
Coming back for his third year with the Cardinal, Alexandre Rotsaert is competing for his first time at the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. A win from Rotsaert would be the first victory at the championship for Stanford since Alex Kim’s title in 2001. In addition to etching his name in the record books, a title for Rotsaert would break a five-way tie for the program with the most National Fall Championship titles. During his sophomore campaign, Rotsaert was named an ITA Singles All-American and finished No. 7 in the Oracle ITA Singles Rankings.
3. Gabriel Decamps | UCF
UCF’s Decamps looks to make more history for the Knights. At the end of the 2020 season, he was named an ITA Singles All-American — the first player to be awarded the honor in program history. As a sophomore, Decamps won the men’s singles consolation crown at the National Fall Championships. Decamps would be the first UCF player to win the national title. In his first match since the end of the 2020 season, Decamps will face USC’s Bradley Frye in the opening round of the championship.
2. Kyle Seelig | Ohio State
This will be Kyle Seelig’s third trip to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Seelig’s two previous appearances at the National Fall Championships resulted in a semifinal finish in the consolation bracket (2019) and a Round of 16 finish (2018). The fifth-year Buckeye recently competed in the Oracle ITA Masters by UTR. At the championship he reached the quarterfinals before falling to Keegan Smith of UCLA. He will face Duke’s Andrew Zhang on Thursday night.
1. James Trotter | Ohio State
James Trotter’s trajectory at Ohio State only keeps going up. He heads into his junior season in Columbus after tying for the most singles wins on the team last season. Trotter stepped up in a big way at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships when he clinched the match for the Buckeyes against No. 4 Wake Forest. The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships will be new territory for him though. The No. 1 seed will look to be the first Buckeye since Bryan Koniecko in 2008 to win the men’s championship. Trotter heads to the National Fall Championships after playing a UTR Pro Series event this past weekend in Georgia.
