Florida Gators
ITA All-American
UF Tennis Begins Action At ITA Men?s All-American
Saturday, October 2, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Action got underway at the 2004 Icy Hot/Men's All-American Championship for three members of the University of Florida tennis team on Friday. All three Gators advanced in the prequalifying singles draw at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.
In singles play, redshirt junior Ryan Sherry received a bye in the opening round of prequalifying as did all UF players in action on Friday. In the round of 128, Sherry defeated Furman's Allen Simmons (6-3, 6-4). With the win, Sherry will face Ole Miss' Karim Ayali on Saturday morning. Junior Stefan Tell also picked up a straight set win as he defeated Georgia State's Daniel Balog (6-2, 6-3). Tell will take on Kentucky's Nolan Polley in the next round. Sophomore Martin Stiegwardt rounded out the list of early Gator competitors as he defeated Nebraska's James Clow (6-0, 7-5). Stiegwardt will next face Ole Miss' Bram Ten Barge late Saturday morning.
Stiegwardt and Tell also begin action in the prequalifying doubles draw on Saturday. The UF duo received a first round bye and will face Arizona State's Daniel Davies and Ryan McBride Saturday afternoon.
The Icy Hot/ITA Men's All-American Championships include 192-singles player and 96-doubles team prequalifying tournaments played October 1-3 which feed into 128-player and 64-doubles team qualifying tournaments October 4-6. The 64-player, 32-doubles team main draw takes place Oct. 7-10. The singles tournament fields can run over 350 players, making it the largest collegiate event of the season.
The Icy Hot/ ITA Men's All-American Championships offer the first national singles and doubles titles of the season, and are followed by the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November and the third event is the season-ending NCAA Championships in May. All told, 46 of the top 50 players in the preseason ITA singles rankings are competing in this year's main draw.
2004 Icy Hot/ITA Men's All-American Championships
Singles Prequalifying (Round of 128)
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Ryan Sherry (UF) d. Allen Simmons (Furman), 6-3, 6-4
Stef Tell (UF) d. Daniel Balog (Georgia State), 6-2; 6-3
Martin Stiegwardt (UF) def. James Clow (Nebraska), 6-0, 7-5
