Men's Tennis Travels to Texas, Oklahoma for Fall Openers
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team will finally begin its fall season this week.
After Hurricane Irma shortened the Hurricanes’ fall schedule with the cancellations of the University of Florida Invitational and the FGCU Invitational, Miami will open the season with the Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas, and the ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
The Rice Invitational begins Sept. 29 and will conclude Oct. 1, and the All-American Championships, a nine-day event starting Friday, will be the first of six events at which the Hurricanes will compete in this fall.
Miami rounds up fall competition at the Bedford Cup (Oct. 5-8; Tallahassee, Fla.), ITA Southeast Regional Championships presented by Oracle (Oct. 12-16; Atlanta, Ga.), University of Alabama Invitational (Nov. 5-7; Birmingham, Ala.) and Navy Invitational (Nov. 5-7; Annapolis, Md.).
Head coach Aljosa Piric and his assistant Petar Danolic enter their second seasons at the helm of the program after leading Miami to nine victories in 2017-18, the most in three seasons. In late April, the Hurricanes defeated Boston College 5-1 for the program’s first postseason victory since 2010.
This fall, Miami will have five players with at least two years of collegiate experience on its roster. These include seniors Piotr Lomacki, Nile Clark, Niclas Genovese and Christian Langmo, and junior Dane Dunlap.
Piric’s roster already received national recognition going into the fall. Lomacki, who finished last season ranked No. 63 in the nation after posting a 12-9 singles record, was ranked No. 37 in the Oracle/ITA Division I National Preseason Singles rankings. He was the fifth-highest Atlantic Coast Conference player in the 125-player rankings. In addition, Lomacki and his doubles partner Nile Clark, who finished 11-3 as a duo, were the No. 47 duo in the nation.
The Canes, who lost Max Andrews, Kevin Bondar, and Jesse Flores, will be bolstered by domestic and international talent. Jake Kuhlman, out of North Dakota, Adria Soriano Barrera and Pablo Aycart Joya from Spain, Bojan Jankulovski from Macedonia, and Japan native Tatsuki Shimamoto, join the diverse roster, hoping to make an impact as early as this fall. Including Piric and Danolic, both from Bosnia and Herzegovina, this season The U’s roster will comprise of 12 men from eight different countries.
Next week the Hurricanes will be in Tallahassee for the Bedford Cup.
For all of the latest news around Miami’s men’s tennis team, follow @CanesMensTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or go to HurricaneSports.com.
Canes at the All-American Championships:
Singles:
Dane Dunlap (TBA)
Christian Langmo (TBA)
Bojan Jankulovski (TBA)
Canes at the Rice Invitational:
Singles:
Adria Soriano-Barrera (1st round bye Friday)
Tatsuki Shimamoto (vs. Sebastian Mortier (UIW), Friday, 10 a.m.)
Nile Clark (vs Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (Rice), Friday, 11 a.m.)
Niclas Genovese (vs Okkie Kellerman (Corpus Christi), Friday, 11:30 a.m.)
Jake Kuhlman (vs Jared Aiman (Rice), Friday, 3 p.m.)
Pablo Aycart Joya (vs Francois Kellerman (Charleston), Friday, 10 a.m.)
Doubles:
Clark/Shimamoto (vs Vatanadilok/Dyer (UIW), Friday, 9 a.m.)
Genovese/Kuhlman (vs Ahmic/Vander Heiden (UIW), Friday, 9 a.m.; vs Morris/Aiman (Denver/Rice), Saturday, 9 a.m.; vs Groom/Hublitz (UNCW), Saturday, 10 a.m.)
