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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Tennis to face Ivy rivals at Regionals

10.14.10.sports.tennis
10.14.10.sports.tennis

The five-day-long ITA Regional Championship marks the biggest and most important tournament for the Big Green this fall. All of the Ivy League schools as well as many local rivals will be present.

"The ITA Regionals is a good opportunity to see how we stack up individually against some of the best players in the region," head coach Chris Drake said.

The tournament consists of a 128-player main draw and a qualifying draw, in which 32 players will play for eight final spots in the main draw. On the doubles side, 64 teams will play in the main draw without a qualifying draw.

Last year, the Big Green's Dan Freeman '10, the best finisher on the team, made it to the round of 16 by defeating the top seed and No. 1 player in the region, John Wong of Cornell. The Big Green hosted the ITA Regional Championship at the Boss Tennis Center last year.

The Big Green players this year are looking to achieve similar success.

"If we can beat other Ivy League players who are at the top of their lineup, that can give us a lot of confidence later in the year when we play against them again," co-captain Curtis Roby '11 said.

Roby, Michael Laser '12, Xander Centenari '13, Brandon DeBot '14 and Stephen Greif '11 will represent the Big Green in the qualifying draw of the tournament.

Dartmouth has had an encouraging start to its season, with two singles players finishing first in their respective draws and one doubles pair taking home first place at the National Tennis Center Invitational.

A week later, DeBot earned a win in flight B singles draw one day after he and his partner Cameron Ghorbani '14 won their draw in doubles at the Dartmouth shootout.

Andrew Malizia '12 finished second in flight E singles draw, while seniors Roby and Greif took home third place in their respective singles draws.

"We've shown that we are very fit and play well till the end of the match," Drake said. "Our doubles have been getting better from tournament to tournament."

Drake replaced former head coach Chuck Kinyon earlier this season as the new men's tennis head coach. Kinyon retired after 27 seasons with the Dartmouth tennis program.

The new head coach has been focusing on two areas for the Big Green to work on in tournaments and at practice toughness and fitness. The team looks to continue to improve in preparation for the Ivy League season next spring, according to Drake.

Last year, Dartmouth finished with a disappointing 2-5 record in the Ivy League, ending up in sixth place.

"My personal goal would be to win the Ivy League this season," Roby said. "We were 2-5 last year, and we should definitely do better than that."

The ITA Regional Championships will provide the Big Green a good measuring stick to see how it stacks up against top Ivy League competition.

"I expect us to be the most competitive team and physically very fit," Drake said. "I expect us to fight hard to win every match and go deep into the tournament."

According to Roby, receiving a favorable draw in tournament-style play is very important.

"You never know who you're going to play against or when you are going to play," he said.

The ITA Regional Championship will run Oct. 29 through Oct. 31.