The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UTSA
No. 8 Men’s Tennis hosts inaugural matches at Texas Tennis Center
01.16.2018 | Men's Tennis
Longhorns open their new Texas Tennis Center with a doubleheader Friday afternoon.
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas men's and women's tennis programs usher in a new era this week with the opening of the Texas Tennis Center. The Texas men will play the first dual matches at the new facility on Friday, Jan. 19, when they host a doubleheader against UTSA (noon) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4 p.m.).
Texas Athletics will host a grand opening ceremony at the 12-court outdoor facility on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m. A men's tennis match against SMU will follow at 2:30 p.m.
The 12th-ranked Texas women will play their first matches at their new home on Saturday, Jan. 20. The Longhorns meet Texas State at 10 a.m. and UT-Rio Grande Valley at 3 p.m.
The Texas Tennis Center is located at 2100 Comal Street, just north of baseball's UFCU Disch-Falk Field and west of softball's McCombs Field. Admission is free of charge for all regular season matches. Parking is available for a small fee at the East Campus Garage adjacent to UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Texas Tennis Center, which will seat up to 1,200 spectators, opens to fans one hour in advance of first serve. Fans should note that the UT Athletics Clear Bag Policy will be in place for all matches at Texas Tennis Center. Concessions will be available for purchase inside the facility.
THIS WEEK'S MATCHES
UTSA at No. 8 Texas
Friday, Jan. 19 – Noon
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at No. 8 Texas
Friday, Jan. 19 – 4 p.m.
Texas Tennis Center grand opening ceremony
Sunday, Jan. 21 - 1 p.m.
SMU at No. 8 Texas
Sunday, Jan. 21 – 2:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Parking: Available in the East Campus Garage (adjacent to UFCU Disch-Falk Field) for $5. Patrons will pull a ticket at the garage entrance and pay upon exiting.
Live Scoring: TexasSports.com
SEASON NOTES
BANZER SELECTED AS BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced Tuesday the selection of Texas junior Rodrigo Banzer as the league's first Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the 2018 season.
The 98th-ranked Banzer went 6-0 in singles and doubles and won the individual championship over the weekend at the Longhorn Invitational. Points were awarded for each singles and doubles win depending on their opponent's position in their lineup, and Banzer won the individual championship with room to spare.
Banzer, a native of La Paz, Bolivia, did not yield a set while winning his three singles matches. He improved to an impressive 15-3 in doubles alongside Leonardo Telles with three more doubles wins, which included a top-40 victory over Vanderbilt's 36th-ranked tandem of Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe.
LONGHORNS RANK NO. 8 IN ITA PRESEASON POLL
With a roster chocked full of talented, battle-tested veterans, Texas ranks No. 8 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's release of the preseason top-25 men's tennis poll.
The Longhorns carry the flag for the Big 12 Conference with their league-leading No. 8 ranking, and all six of the league's men's tennis schools are featured in the top-25. TCU joins Texas in the top-10 at No. 10, while Baylor follows closely behind at No. 11 nationally.
Oklahoma State ranks 15th, Oklahoma comes in at No. 18 and Texas Tech rounds out the Big 12 schools at the 24th slot. The Big 12 leads the nation with six schools in the preseason poll. The league's coaches took a vote for a men's tennis preseason poll, and Texas tied with TCU for the top spot, as the two schools split the six first-place votes. Baylor, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech filled out the remainder of the coaches poll.
HORNS FEATURED PROMINENTLY IN I.T.A. INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
In November, Texas accumulated six spots in the final ITA singles and doubles rankings of the fall. At No. 5 in doubles, juniors Rodrigo Banzer and Leonardo Telles solidify the Longhorns' highest-ranked doubles pair since September of 2014, when Lloyd Glasspool and Søren Hess-Olesen ranked fourth.
Banzer and Telles reached the quarterfinals at the ITA All-American Championships, and they knocked off the nation's top-ranked tandem from Florida at the ITA National Fall Championships. The Texas tandem won the doubles title at the Cajun Tennis Classic and reached the semifinals at the ITA Texas Regional Championships on their way to a 12-3 fall record.
Junior Harrison Scott and sophomore Yuya Ito rank 23rd in doubles after producing a 5-1 doubles record throughout the fall. Scott entered the fall with a No. 22 singles ranking, and he ended the fall still among the top-30 at the No. 27 slot. The Canadian reached the quarterfinals at the Oracle ITA Masters, the third round of the ITA All-American Championships and the second round of the ITA National Fall Championships.
Telles ranks a career-best 37th in the ITA fall singles rankings after putting together a breakthrough semester of tennis. The Brazilian won the ITA Texas Regional Championship and qualified for his first major, the ITA National Fall Championships.
Senior John Mee wrapped the fall with a career-best No. 52 singles record after compiling an impressive 12-3 fall singles mark. Banzer also notched a career best in singles with his No. 98 national ranking. The native of Bolivia posted four fall wins and defeated Kentucky's 34th-ranked Ryotaro Matsumara at the Cajun Tennis Classic. Texas also features Christian Sigsgaard, the 2017 Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year.
Players Mentioned
