Notre Dame has managed to find success early on in the season, starting with the Milwaukee Classic, which began last Thursday. Senior Grayson Broadus, junior Guillermo Cabrera and sophomore William Howells all advanced to the round of 32 in the tournament. Broadus advanced to the round of 16 before being defeated, and Howells made it to the quarterfinals before Keenan Mayo of Illinois eliminated him.
Broadus and Cabrera competed in the doubles competition as well, making it to the quarterfinals, where they were eventually eliminated. Junior Matt Gamble and Howells managed to eclipse that doubles performance, making it to the semifinal round before coming up just short of a championship berth, losing 8-4.
Senior Alex Lebedev will look to build off his round-of-16 qualification at the UVA Masters, while sophomore Richard Ciamarra advanced all the way to the semifinals at the same competition and is aiming to keep that momentum going throughout the rest of the fall season.
Finally, at the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational, senior Nathan Griffin, sophomore Paul Gota, senior Daniel Rayl and juniors Johnathan Small and Conor Somers each earned at least one singles win at the tournament, while Rayl was named champion of Flight B, winning all three matches he played over the weekend. The senior was later named to the All-Tournament Second Team.
For the Irish, the squad has started this season with several promising signs. Notre Dame will now move on to the St. Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships (pre-qualifying) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this weekend. The tournament, hosted by Tulsa University, is set to start Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. It will include pre-qualifying, qualifying, main draw and the championship, which is set to be held Monday, Oct. 8. This is the 14th-straight year Tulsa will be hosting the tournament.
