Men's Tennis Set for ITA All-American

NORMAN – The Oklahoma men's tennis team returns to the Sooner State this weekend for the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championship, hosted by the University of Tulsa.

OU will send seven players to the tournament: Jochen Bertsch, Max Stewart and Matt Rodriguez are set for the tournament's pre-qualifying draw, beginning Saturday. Freshman Mason Beiler will play in the qualifying draw, which takes place Oct. 1-2.

ITA No. 16 Alex Bakshi, No. 34 Ferran Calvo and No. 70 Jake Van Emburgh have all earned entries into the main draw, beginning Oct. 4. With three automatic bids for the singles main draw, Oklahoma ties Florida and Mississippi State for the most players in that respective bracket, and leads the Big 12 in the same category.

Additionally, Bakshi and Van Emburgh will play in the doubles main draw. As a duo, Bakshi and Van Emburgh are ranked No. 13 after compiling a 4-5 record at the No. 1 line, and earning All-Big 12 second team honors last season.

Calvo made a remarkable run at the 2017 ITA All-American, winning eight straight matches to advance through the pre-qualifying and qualifying draws into the main bracket, where he advanced to the round of 16.

In addition to vying for the ITA All-American national title, players will be competing to secure a berth into the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which takes place Nov. 7-11, in Surprise, Arizona. Singles quarterfinalists, consolation singles champion and finalist, along with doubles semifinalists and consolation doubles champion and finalist advance to the end of fall national championship.

For updates, follow @OU_MTennis on Twitter or like Oklahoma Men's Tennis on Facebook.

Players Mentioned

Mason Beiler

Jochen Bertsch

Ferran Calvo

Matt Rodriguez

Max Stewart

Jake Van Emburgh

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics