Men’s Tennis
Notre Dame heads into final fall competition
Observer Sports Staff | Friday, November 3, 2017
This weekend, the Irish wrap up their fall men’s tennis season with split competition at the ITA National Fall Championships and the Gopher Invitational. The former takes place in Palm Desert, California, where junior Alex Lebedev represents Notre Dame. Meanwhile, the rest of the Irish squad will compete at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis throughout the weekend.
After two days of tennis in California, Lebedev has advanced to the Round of 16 among a highly competitive field. On Thursday, he defeated Marcus Walters of Tyler Junior College 6-4, 6-4 to advance. Previously on Wednesday, Lebedev beat No. 59 and 10th seeded Johannes Ingildsen of Florida 6-1, 7-5. The junior improved to 8-3 in singles play this fall and is 3-1 against ranked opponents.
On Friday, Lebedev will face the winner of the matchup featuring No. 2 Nuno Borges of Mississippi State and No. 42 Ryo Matsumura of Kentucky. Play will commence at noon, with both the Round of 16 and quarterfinals scheduled for Friday.
This already stellar performance at the ITA National Fall Championships comes off the heels of a strong summer and fall for Lebedev. Notably, he won the ITA National Summer Championships, and reached the Round of 16 at the ITA All-American Championship as well as the quarterfinals at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships.
The remainder of the Irish contingent will begin play in Minnesota on Friday in the Gopher Invitational. Hosted by the University of Minnesota, this will take place at the Baseline Tennis Center. This tournament will signal the end of Notre Dame’s fall season.
Live updates for the ITA National Fall Championships to follow Lebedev may be found at www.tennisticker.de.
