University of Tennessee Athletics
Chris Racz Wins ITA National Summer Championships
August 14, 2007 | Men's Tennis
Chris Racz
Tennessee men???s tennis player Chris Racz continued his strong play Tuesday afternoon defeating Michigan???s Mike Sroczynski in the championship match to win the 2007 ITA National Summer Championships hosted by Indiana University.
???I played in all the qualifiers this summer and I feel like I got into a good rhythm that just continued this week in the championships,??? Racz said. ???I think the win helps me get ready for the upcoming season and really gives me a confidence boost going into next season. It???s always been an individual goal of mine to be ranked in the singles poll and this should help me achieve that.???
Racz defeated Sroczynski 7-6, 6-1 in the final match. Earlier in the day, the UT lettermen defeated tournament No. 2-seed, Will Gray of Tulsa, in the semifinals. Racz played well all tournament dropping only one set during his six-match win streak through the championships. The Philadelphia native is Tennessee???s first ITA Summer Champion since Wade Orr won back-to-back titles in 2001-02.
The tournament title means Racz automatically earns a wild card spot into the Main Draw of the Polo Ralph Lauren Men???s All-American Championships in October. The win also means that Racz has a good chance of accomplishing one of his individual goals and be ranked when the first ITA singles poll comes out in the beginning of September.
???I can???t begin to tell you how proud I am of Chris,??? head coach Sam Winterbotham said. ???He has traveled all across the country this summer competing in every tournament he could and has really shown the commitment to tennis that (associate head coach) Chris (Woodruff) and I expect from our guys. I???m ecstatic about his results and his development this summer and I look forward to getting him back home and building on all of his progress.???
Racz, who will begin his sophomore year next week at UT, was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete last week.
During his freshman campaign, Racz appeared to be playing his best tennis as the season ended and his play this summer has only further proved that notion. In his Big Orange rookie season, Racz finished with a record of 22-8 and also clinched a team-high six victories for UT.
The ITA National Summer Championships presented by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) are the pinnacle of the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, which was played at 24 regional sites throughout the country last month. This year, 2,589 players have participated in circuit events, the second highest participation total since its inception in 1993 and just shy of last year???s record of 2,624.
