Florida Gators
ITA All-American
Qualifying Rounds Close At ITA All-American
Wednesday, October 6, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Two University of Florida men's tennis players were among the 16 individuals that earned open spots in the main draw of the 2004 Icy Hot/Men's All-American Championship as qualifying rounds in Chattanooga, Tenn. came to a close on Wednesday.
Overall, 320 players have been vying for the open spots since last Friday through prequalifying and qualifying rounds. Florida junior Chris Brandi and freshman Greg Ouellette were among those that advanced in the singles draw.
On Wednesday, Ouellette fought back to defeat UT-Arlington's Alexander Farquharson (0-6; 6-3; 6-0). With the win, Ouellette improved to 11-0 on the fall as he moved on to face Arizona's Roger Matalonga on Thursday. Brandi got his win over Georgia's Colin Purcell (6-3; 3-6; 6-4). He will also play on Thursday morning as he takes on Washington's Christoph Palmanshefer.
The Icy Hot/ITA Men's All-American Championships included 192-singles player and 96-doubles team prequalifying tournaments played October 1-3 which fed 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
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Singles Qualifying (Round of 32)
Somdev De Varman (Virginia) def. Nestor Briceno (UF); 6-0,6-2
Chris Brandi (UF) def. Colin Purcell (Georgia); 6-3; 3-6; 6-4
Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Alexander Farquharson (UT-Arlington); 0-6; 6-3; 6-0
Clayton Almeida (Wintrhop) def. Martin Stiegwardt (UF) 6-4; 2-6; 6-4
Doubles Qualifying (Round of 32)
Ockie Oosthuizen/Ben Rogers (Tenn) def. Janne Holmia/Greg Ouellette (UF), 8-4
