Men's Main Draw
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Nov. 5, 2003
MALIBU, CALIF. -- After months of conditioning and a productive fall tournament season where he finished 13-4, Pepperdine men's tennis player Pedro Rico was awarded a prestigious invitation to participant in the 2003 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, the nation's premier collegiate indoor tennis event for NCAA Division I men and women. This tournament is the second of three national championships for collegiate tennis this season.
"I knew I was a first alternate, so I waited all week to get the final call," commented Rico, a 6-4 sophomore from Alicante, Spain. "This is the biggest tournament of my career and I'm just thankful to have the opportunity play the game I love so much."
"I want to do well, not for me or my coach, but for my teammates and school. I want to remind everyone what a successful tennis program we have at Pepperdine."
The event features a 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles field for men and women, including: champions from ITA Regional Championships held across the country during the past two weeks, the ITA National Small College champions, the winners of the Icy Hot/ITA Men's and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships and at-large and wild card selections made last week by the ITA National Tournament Committee. Overall, more than 10,000 players from nearly 600 schools participate annually in the ITA Regional and National Intercollegiate Championships and Rico made the final 32 player cut.
Rico will face Duke's Ludovic Walter on Thursday.
"This tournament is huge for Pedro and our program," said Adam Steinberg, Pepperdine head coach. "I am confident that he will go out and play to the best of his abilities. He had a great fall season and obviously others noticed."
The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships were inaugurated in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women and recent participants include current professionals James Blake (Harvard), Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford), Laura Granville (Stanford) and Brian Vahaly (Virginia). Longtime pros Todd Martin (Northwestern) and Lisa Raymond (Florida) are also among the past singles champions. Host Michigan's MaliVai Washington, a 1996 Wimbledon finalist, won the 1989 men's singles title (beating teammate and current UM assistant Dan Goldberg in the final).
This weekend's semifinal and final matches will be broadcast live on the internet on www.RadioTennis.com.
A complete schedule of play is listed on the www.itatennis.com.
Admission to the event is free to general public.
The first national tournaments of the 2003-04 collegiate tennis season were the Icy Hot/ITA Men's and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, which took place Oct. 9-12. This week's ITA National Intercollegiates are the second, and the season-ending NCAA Championships (not administered by the ITA) are the third and take place in May.
Schedule of Events
Thursday, Nov. 6 Men's and Women's Singles -- First Round (matches starting at 8:30 a.m.) Followed by: Men's Doubles -- First Round Women's Doubles -- First Round Men's Doubles -- Quarterfinals Women's Doubles -- Quarterfinals
Friday, Nov. 7 Men's and Women's Singles -- Second Round (matches starting at 8:30 a.m.) Followed by: Men's and Women's Singles -- Quarterfinals (main draw not before 4 p.m.) Men's and Women's Doubles -- Semifinals (not before 6:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Nov. 8 Men's and Women's Singles -- Consolation Semifinals (matches starting at 9 a.m.) Followed by: Men's and Women's Singles -- Main Draw Semifinals (not before 11 a.m.) Men's and Women's Doubles -- Main Draw and Consolation Finals (not before 1 p.m.) Men's and Women's Singles -- Consolation Finals (not before 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 9 Women's Singles -- Final (Noon) Followed by: Men's Singles -- Final
