STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — LSU men’s tennis players, Jesse Smatt and Sebastian Rutka, begin competition in the qualifying round of the ITA All-American Championships on Tuesday at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Ga.
“The All-American event is comprised of the best tennis players in the nation,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “Our guys will be playing the best of the best and it will be a real test for them. They are looking for a challenge and they will get one, because it will get tougher for them as they advance.”
The ITA All-American Championships is the first leg of the ITA Grand Slam and consists of the top-collegiate players from across the nation. The six-day event includes both singles and doubles championships and is the largest collegiate tennis tournament in the country. More than 360 players will compete in the singles draws.
Smatt, the 72nd-ranked singles player in the nation, will face Pepperdine’s Calle Hansen in first-round action on Tuesday. The Tigers’ senior is the ninth-seeded player in the qualifying event, while Hansen qualified on Monday by defeating Florida State’s Romain Jurd, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3. Smatt will be making his fall debut at the ITA All-American Championships on Tuesday.
Rutka, the Tigers’ sophomore from Krakow, Poland, looks to continue his first-year success at the Lincoln Tennis Center. He ended his freshman season with an impressive overall record of 21-10 and helped guide LSU to its seventh-straight Sweet 16 appearance. Rutka is scheduled to face Illinois’ Chris Martin on Tuesday.
The ITA All-American Championships will begin Tuesday morning at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Ga.