Florida Gators
ITA All-American
Men's Tennis Main Draw Starts At ITA All-American
Friday, October 8, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Six members of the University of Florida men's tennis team were in action on Thursday at the 2004 Icy Hot/Men's All-American Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. After six days of prequalifying and qualifying rounds, the main draw got underway as four members of the team advanced past the first round of the singles draw and UF freshman Nestor Briceno made it into the round of 16.
The day started with four players advancing past the round of 64 (Greg Ouellette, Martin Stiegwardt, Chris Brandi and Nestor Briceno). Ouellette and Brandi earned their spots in the main draw with wins in the qualifying rounds, while Stiegwardt and Briceno were among the alternates to be chosen to play.
Briceno rounded out UF's first round winners as he won in straight sets over Michigan State's Andy Formanczyk (6-3, 6-3). The Gator newcomer was the only member of the Florida squad to make it out of the round as he defeated Oklahoma State's Mark Van Elden, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
In the round of 64, Ouellette came away with the win after Arizona's Roger Matalonga was forced to retire from the match in the second set due to injury.
Brandi dropped his first set to Washington's Christoph Palmanshefer, 6-3, however rallied to take the next two 6-2, 6-3. Stiegwardt's first match went the same way as he lost his first set to LSU's Justin Hazley before taking the next two sets by the same scores Brandi posted.
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.
Main Draw (Round of 64)
Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Roger Matalonga (Arizona); 6-7(5); 4-3 Ret (inj)
Martin Stiegwardt (UF) def. Jason Hazley (LSU); 4-6; 6-2; 6-3
Doug Stewart (Virginia) def. Vladimir Obradovic (UF), 7-6 (7), 6-3
Chris Brandi (UF) def. Christoph Palmanshefer (Washington), 3-6; 6-2; 6-3
Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Andy Formanczyk (Michigan State); 6-3; 6-3
Sam Warburg (Stanford) def. Janne Holmia (UF); 6-4; 6-2
Main Draw (Round of 32)
Luke Shields (Boise State) def. Martin Stiegwardt (UF); 6-2, 6-2
Pedro Rico (Pepperdine def. Greg Ouellette (UF), 6-4, 6-4
Ken Skupski (LSU) def. Chris Brandi (UF), 6-4; 5-7; 6-3
Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Mark Van Elden (OSU); 7-6(3); 6-3
