Gameday: Gardnar Mulloy Miami Invitational | 10 a.m.
Jan. 10, 2012
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 31 University of Miami men’s tennis team opens the spring season by hosting the Gardnar Mulloy Miami Invitational, Thursday, Jan. 12 through Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
The three-day dual-match tournament will feature three other teams ranked in the nation’s Top 25, including No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 17 Illinois and No. 22 Texas Tech.
The event, as well as a sportsmanship award, has been named after former UM men’s tennis coach and Wimbledon doubles champion Gardnar Mulloy. The 98-year old, who created the Miami men’s tennis program in 1936, won the Wimbledon doubles title in 1957.
Mulloy has been named to nine Hall of Fames across the country, including the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He was ranked in the World’s Top 10 three different times throughout his career in 1946, 1949 and 1952. Mulloy also reached the No. 1 spot in the U.S. in 1952.
The tennis legend has won 57 U.S. titles in various age groups during his career. He also won four U.S. men’s doubles championships in the 1940s.
“We want to have to have this tournament every year to honor Mr. Mulloy for his legacy and contributions to tennis and the University of Miami,” said head coach Mario Rincon.
Rincon and the Hurricanes will look to improve on last season’s record of 15-9, as well as build upon a successful fall season with the team’s first three dual-matches of the spring this week.
“Gabriel Flores, Victor Mauz, Diego Soto, Santiago Nieto and Omar Aly have worked hard in the fall and are ready for a great season,” continued Rincon. “It is a great opportunity for our guys to get a lot of matches in before school start. We will find out where we are as a team.”
The lineup for the Hurricanes this week is expected to include Flores, Aly, Soto, Mauz and Nieto. However, there are four new members of the team that will be looking to make an impact this season.
The team added junior Marco Stancati from Italy, freshman Wilfredo Gonzalez from Guatemala and freshman Henrique Tsukamoto from Brazil. Junior Mark Schanerman also joins the team after transferring from Northwestern University.
“They are talented and hardworking kids on the court and in the classroom that are ready to battle in the ACC,” added Rincon. “We are looking forward to watching them against some of the best teams in the country this weekend.”
Illinois comes to Coral Gables with two of the Top 25 singles players in the country. Dennis Nevolo is ranked at No. 2 and Roy Kalmanovich is ranked No. 24.
Texas A&M also has one player ranked in the Top 25 as Alexis Klegou is ranked No. 19 in the country. Jeremy Efferding and Junior Ore are also ranked at No. 73 and No. 104, respectively.
Texas Tech boasts only one ranked student-athlete with Gonzalo Escobar ranked at No. 23.
The Hurricanes will kick off the spring season as they face Texas Tech on Thursday. The team will continue with Illinois on Friday and Texas A&M on Saturday. Thursday and Friday’s matches will begin at 10 a.m. and Saturday the team will take the courts at 9 a.m.
