ITA Fall Championships Begin Wednesday

Wednesday, November 6

Newport Beach, Calif.

All Day

North Carolina

Oracle ITA National Fall Championships

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

November 5, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Fall Championships Homepage

By: Mark Kimmel

TEMPE, Ariz. – National titles in men's and women's singles and doubles will be on the line this week when the 2019 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships open Wednesday (Nov. 6) at Newport Beach Tennis Club and The Tennis Club at Newport Beach in Newport Beach, Calif. Admission and parking to the five-day tournament are free.

North Carolina tops all schools with four players (Sara Daavettila, Alexa Graham, Cameron Mora and Alle Sanford) in the women's singles draw, followed by California, Duke, NC State, Oklahoma State, UCF and UCLA with three individuals. The Bruins lead the doubles draw with three teams, while NC State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, UCF and USC each have two teams.

No. 3 Makenna Jones and Morra, and No. 20 Daavettila and Graham will compete in doubles for the Tar Heels.

Seven of the top 10-ranked individuals in the Oracle ITA Division I Preseason National Rankings are in the women's singles draw, including No.2 Estela Perez-Somarriba (Miami, Fla.), No. 4 Alexa Graham (North Carolina), No. 5 Kelly Chen (Duke), No. 6 Michaela Gordon (Stanford), No. 7 Sara Daavettila (North Carolina), No. 8 Anna Rogers (NC State) and No. 9 Jada Hart (UCLA).

Sunday's singles finals at the Newport Beach Tennis Club will air live on ESPN3 with Bryan Fenley, Marc Lucero and Jasmine Minor describing the action. Both finals will re-air on ESPNU with dates and times to be announced. Complete draws will be released on Tuesday.

The tournament will open with the men's competition taking place at The Tennis Club at Newport and the women playing at Newport Beach Tennis Club Wednesday through Friday before all play moves to Newport Beach Tennis Club on Saturday and Sunday.

The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships features 128 of the nation's top collegiate singles players (64 men and 64 women) and 64 doubles teams (32 men's team and 32 women's teams). In its third year, having replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, it is the lone event on the collegiate tennis calendar to feature competitors from all five divisions playing in the same tournament.

A total of 40 men and 40 women earn automatic qualification into the singles draw based on their performance in a series of prior fall events (Oracle ITA Masters, Milwaukee Tennis Classic, ITA All-Americans, ITA Cup and ITA Regionals). Additionally, one Oracle Wild Card, two ITA Wild Cards and 21 at-large selections per gender receive entry into the championships. The doubles championships provide 19 automatic qualifiers per gender, with one Oracle Wild Card, two ITA Wild Cards and 10 at-large selections completing the field. (Selection Criteria)

A series of events around the tournament are planned as Oracle will host a Pickleball and Pints Party at The Tennis Club on Friday, Nov. 8. The event is scheduled from 6-8:30 p.m. and the public is welcome. A Question-and-Answer session on the recruiting process and college tennis with college coaches will take place Sunday at the Newport Beach Tennis Club beginning at 10 a.m. Finals Sunday will also include a Family BBQ starting at 11 a.m.