Oct. 4, 2003
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Santa Clara University men's tennis team bowed out of pre-qualifying competition for the Icy Hot/ITA All-American Championships at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.
After winning two matches yesterday, senior Gernot Fischer fell to Alabama-Birmingham's Kristijan Mitrovski 6-1, 7-6 (5) in the Round of 64.
Fischer then paired with junior Taylor Bedilion for doubles competition. The Broncos had a bye in the Round of 128 and faced Ben Pettinari and Diorge Uskotavic of Illinois State in the Round of 64, falling by a close 8-6 score.
The ITA Men's All-American Championships include six days of qualifying matches leading up to the Oct. 9-12 64-singles, 32-doubles main draw. The 256-singles and 128-doubles pre-qualifying tournaments are played October 3-6, which feed into a 64-singles and 32-doubles qualifying tournament October 7-8. The combined singles tournament fields can run more than 350 players and a player who begins in pre-qualifying must win seven matches just to reach the main draw.
The Icy Hot/ITA Men's All-American Championship, the largest single tournament in the country, offers the first national singles and doubles titles of the season, and are followed by the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November and the season-ending NCAA Championships in May.
This event has been played annually since 1979. A number of its past participants have enjoyed successful professional tennis careers, including Todd Martin (Northwestern), MaliVai Washington (Michigan), Sargis Sargsian (Arizona State), as well as recent U.S. Davis Cup team members James Blake (Harvard), Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford), and Brian Vahaly (Virginia).
The rest of the Broncos will return to action next weekend at the Fresno State Bulldog Classic October 10-12, and close out the fall at the ITA Regional Championship October 17-20 and the Southern California Intercollegiate November 5-9.
Singles, Round of 64
Kristijan Mitrovski (UAB) def. Gernot Fischer (SCU) 6-1, 7-6 (5)
Doubles, Round of 128
Fischer/Bedilion (SCU) bye
Doubles, Round of 64
Pettinari/Uskotavic (ILS) def. Fischer/Bedilion (SCU) 8-6