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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss' Gard Seeded No.1 At All-American Championships
9/30/2004 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 30, 2004
OXFORD, Miss. - Several members of the Ole Miss men's tennis team will begin competing in the Icy Hot/ITA All-American Championships Friday at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. Senior Catalin Gard, who is ranked No.1 in the nation, is the No. 1 seed in the main draw.
The All-American Championships is not only the largest single tournament of this season in collegiate tennis, with over 300 competitors, but also the first of three national championship events at the Division I level during the 2004-05 collegiate tennis season.
The Icy Hot/ITA Men's All-American Championships offer the first national singles and doubles titles of the season, and are followed by the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November. The third event is the season-ending NCAA Championships in May.
Four members of the Rebel squad will be competing in the All-American prequalifying beginning Friday. Sophomore Fredrik Aarum, senior Karim Alayli, junior Juan Pablo Di Cesare, and freshman Bram ten Berge will be looking to advance to the qualifying round. \
"The All-American is one of the premier events in collegiate tennis," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "It is a tremendous accomplishment for `Cat' to be the No. 1 seed. Hopefully we will qualify a few more Rebels for the main draw."
Aarum, who helped the Rebels win the SEC Championship in 2004 with an 8-1 record against the nation's toughest conference, is seeded in the prequalifying and will have a first round bye.
Alayli, who defeated Auburn's No. 2 player, Alex Schweizer, in last week's Southern Intercollegiates, will face Juan Carlos Nunez of Arkansas-Little Rock in the first round Friday at 10 a.m.
After an opening round loss to the eventual champion at the Southern Intercollegiates, ten Berge posted two solid wins in his first collegiate tournament, defeating Duke's Christopher Brown and Mississippi State's No. 2 player in 2004, Luiz Carvalho, in the consolation. He looks to continue his solid play when he faces Florida State's Jason Hood, at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Di Cesare, who posted a 6-4 record in the SEC last year, will face a conference foe in the first round in Arkansas' Imraan Ismail. The two will square off at 8 a.m. Friday.
Aarum and Alayli have a first round bye in the prequalifying doubles, and will face Matt Christian and Adam Schaechterle of Northwestern in the second round, Saturday.
Players potentially could have to win five matches to advance to the qualifying, which takes place Oct. 4-6. A player who begins in prequalifying may have to win up to seven matches just to reach the main draw, but it's happened before, most recently in 2002 when Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch reached the semifinals.
Sophomore Eric Claesson, who clinched the Rebels SEC Championship last year, is in the qualifying singles, which begins Monday. He will also team up with Di Cesare in the qualifying doubles. Gard and ten Berge will also play in the qualifying doubles.
Gard, the reigning SEC Player of the Year and two-time All-American, will be playing in his first collegiate tournament of the year, when he begins play next week. He reached the main draw at the USTA Smith/Barney Challenger in Covington, La.
You can follow the Rebels at the ITA All-American by going to www.itatennis.com.