Pair of Canes Set to Compete in Elite ITA Tournament
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A pair of University of Miami men’s tennis student-athletes will close out the fall portion of their sophomore campaigns in Surprise, Ariz., at the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
Adria Soriano Barrera and Bojan Jankulovski will open up play on Wednesday at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex, with play set to conclude on Sunday.
Overall, the national tournament features 128 of the nation’s top collegiate singles players (64 men and 64 women) and 64 doubles teams (32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams). In its second year, having replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships is the lone event on the collegiate tennis calendar to feature competitors from all five divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and JUCO) playing in the same tournament.
After reaching the finals of the ITA Southeast Regional Championships on Oct. 23, No. 41 Soriano Barrera earned an automatic bid into Wednesday’s action. He will square off against No. 105 Ricky Hernandez Tong of New Mexico at 3 p.m. ET.
Following a pair of ranked losses in his first two matches of the fall, the Barcelona, Spain, native bounced back with five consecutive victories to reach the Southeast Regional title match against No. 22 Jan Zielinski of Georgia. Four out of the sophomore’s five wins came in straight sets, including a, 6-3, 6-4, quarterfinals triumph over 57th-ranked Duarte Vale of Florida.
With a team-best 6-2 mark during the fall portion of the 2018-19 season, No. 92 Jankulovski earned an at-large bid into the elite tournament. The sophomore is set to battle No. 85 Sven Lah of Baylor at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The Skopje, Macedonia, native opened up his sophomore campaign topping the nation’s 81st-ranked singles player Laurens Verboven of USC, 6-4, 6-2, who a week prior had won the prestigious Oracle ITA Masters championship. Jankulovski followed it up with victories over Columbia’s William Matheson and Loyola Marymount’s Lukas Moenter to advance to the ITA All-American Championships Main Draw.
At the Southeast Regionals, the sophomore collected a trio of straight-set victories before falling in the quarterfinals.
Live scoring via Tennis Ticker will be available HERE, while TempuZ will provide live streaming coverage from two courts at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex.
Recently, it was announced that the men’s and women’s singles champions will receive main draw wildcards into a 2019 Oracle Challenger Series tournament. You can read the full release by the ITA HERE.
The 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships men’s and women’s singles finals will stream live on ESPN3 and the ESPN App on Sunday, November 11th, beginning at 1 p.m., with the women’s final. The singles championships will re-air on ESPNU on Tuesday, November 13th, at noon You can view the full ESPN broadcast announcement by the ITA HERE.
To keep up with the University of Miami tennis team on social media, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
