Sept. 30, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Four University of Notre Dame men’s tennis student-athletes will hit the court beginning this week at the St. Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
WHAT: St. Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships
WHERE: Michael D. Case Tennis Center | Tulsa, Oklahoma
WHEN: Sept. 30-Oct. 9, 2017
WHO: Alex Lebedev, Matt Gamble, Guillermo Cabrera, Grayson Broadus
All-American Championships
Juniors Alex Lebedev and Grayson Broadus and sophomores Matt Gamble and Guillermo Cabrera are set to compete at this week’s ITA Men’s All-American Championships, with all vying for singles success and Gamble and Lebedev competing in doubles.
Lebedev headlines the group as a direct entry into the singles main draw after capturing the ITA National Summer Championship, earning a wild card spot into the field. Broadus, Cabrera and Gamble will compete in pre-qualifying singles, though Cabrera and Gamble are listed as alternates for the qualifying rounds. Lebedev and Gamble have earned a slot in qualifying doubles.
Play kicks off Saturday with the pre-qualifying rounds, slated to run through Sunday. Qualifying will take place Monday, Oct. 2 through Tuesday, Oct. 3, and the main draw will run from Thursday, Oct. 5 through Monday, Oct. 9.
Main Draw Singles (Oct. 5-9)
Alex Lebedev
Qualifying Singles Alternate (Oct. 2-3)
Matt Gamble
Guillermo Cabrera
Qualifying Doubles (Oct. 2-3)
Matt Gamble / Alex Lebedev
Pre-Qualifying Singles (Sept. 30-Oct.1)
Matt Gamble
Guillermo Cabrera
Grayson Broadus
Grand Slam Streak
Lebedev’s appearance in the singles main draw will mark the 14th consecutive ITA grand slam event in which the Irish have had at least one student-athlete compete in the main draw. ITA grand slam events include the All-American Championships, the National Indoor Championships (now the National Fall Championships) and the NCAA individual tournaments. The streak began with the 2013 NCAA Singles Championship when then-junior and current Irish assistant Greg Andrews advanced to the second round.
Poll Position
The Oracle/ITA preseason rankings were released Sept. 12, with senior Brendon Kempin and junior Grayson Broadus ranked No. 38 in the doubles rankings and junior Alex Lebedev coming in at No. 104 in singles.
Meet The Freshmen
The Irish welcomed four freshman at the start of the fall semester: Richard Ciamarra, Paul Gota, William Howells and Tristan McCormick. The quartet made up the No. 7 recruiting class in the country, according to the Tennis Recruiting Network, with Ciamarra and Howells rated as blue-chip prospects, McCormick as a five-star pick-up and Gota as a four-star talent.
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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.