On Nov. 1 through 5, representatives from both the men and women’s tennis team will take part in the final tennis invitational event of the fall, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s National Championships. This exclusive tournament is open to only finalists and standouts from the ITA Regional Championships and will take place at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens near Palm Springs, California.
Stanford will send three total competitors to the event: freshman Michaela Gordon and sophomore Emily Arbuthnott from the women’s team and junior Sameer Kumar from the men’s team. All three of them will be competing in singles during the tournament.
All three Cardinal teammates played in the ITA regional tournament from Oct. 19 to 22. Gordon, ranked number two in the ITA’s freshman rankings, stunned in her first Cardinal appearance, winning the entire tournament. She defeated Arbuthnott, ranked No. 69 in ITA preseason rankings, in two straight sets to win the title and become the seventh regional champion from Stanford in eight years.
Kumar made it to the quarterfinals of the men’s regional tournament before falling to Paul Barretto of Cal. Ranked 97th in the ITA preseason rankings, Kumar impressed in his junior year debut and will look to build on his performance this weekend.
The ITA national tournament invites the two finalists of every regional tournament to attend, from both singles and doubles. Gordon and Arbuthnott both received invitations in this manner. The ITA committee then rounds out the bracket by selecting standout players from the preseason tournaments.
Strong performances from the Cardinal competitors in this event would bode well for the teams’ seasons. The ITA national tournament features the highest level of competition from around the country and will provide a lot of experience for everyone involved, particularly Gordon, who is beginning her Stanford career with a trial by fire.
The Cardinal’s two highest-ranked players, No. 7-ranked junior Melissa Lord and No. 8-ranked senior Tom Fawcett will not be participating in this event. Fawcett did not play in the regional tournament, and Lord was knocked out in the semifinals of the regional tournament by Arbuthnott. She was not selected for an at-large selection spot.
The action begins on Nov. 1 and will last throughout the entirety of the weekend.
Contact Bobby Pragada at bpragada ‘at’ stanford.edu