Lauren Embree Selected to U.S. Tennis Team for Master'U PNB Paribas
Thursday, November 17, 2011 | Women's Tennis
The USTA announced today the top American collegians, including the University of Florida's Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.), selected to represent the United States in the sixth annual Master'U BNP Paribas, an international collegiate team competition held December 8-11 in Rouen, France. The event features eight teams composed of college and university players from around the world.
The U.S., which defeated France to win the 2009 title and then lost to France in the 2010 final, will be competing for the fourth consecutive year against a talented field that includes teams from Belgium, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain. The teams will compete in a best-of-seven format consisting of two men's and two women's singles matches, one men's and one women's doubles match, and one mixed doubles match.
| Women |
| Beatrice Capra, Duke |
| Jacqueline Cako, Arizona State |
For the third consecutive year, the team will be coached by Greg Patton, the head coach of the Boise State University men's tennis team, and Mark Guilbeau, the head women's tennis coach at the University of Virginia, who will be coaching for the second straight year. Roster spots for the team were selected by a committee of USTA Player Development and coaches and staff from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Beatrice Capra, a freshman from Ellicott City, Md., reached the third round at the 2010 US Open after upsetting then world No. 20 Aravane Rezai in the second round, and is the top-ranked freshman in the ITA Preseason Division I rankings. Jacqueline Cako, a sophomore from Brier, Wash., reached the final at the 2011 ITA/Riviera All-American Championships, and is No. 11 in the ITA Preseason Division I rankings.
Embree, a junior from Marco Island, Fla., won the title-clinching match for Florida at the 2011 NCAA Championships and is No. 5 in the ITA Preseason Division I singles rankings. Embree was a member of the 2011 USTA Collegiate Team, an elite training program funded by the USTA to provide top American collegians with valuable exposure to the USTA Pro Circuit in a team-oriented environment.
Florida's Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) was a member of last year's U.S. Team that competed in France.
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The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 750,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Olympus US Open Series linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns the 90-plus Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S, and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA philanthropic entity, USTA Serves, provides grants and scholarships and helps underserved youth and people with disabilities. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page facebook.com/usta or follow @usta on Twitter.
The office of Junior and Collegiate Competition works cooperatively with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), and USTA Collegiate Varsity Committee to promote collegiate tennis and to increase opportunities and exposure for American players.
About the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA, and the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings for men's and women's tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.
