University of Tennessee Athletics
M TENNIS CENTRAL: ITA All-American
October 01, 2014 | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. -- Tennessee seniors Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese return to the national tennis stage this week at the ITA All-American Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Libietis and Reese, the defending doubles championships, are the No. 1 seeds in doubles and are also both in the 64-player singles draw.
The draws were released Wednesday evening. In Thursday morning singles matches, Reese starts things off against Old Dominion's Carlos Lopez Villa, and Libietis takes on Felipe Soares of Texas Tech. If they win, they will play a second-round singles match later in the day.
Libietis and Reese aim to become the first doubles team in tournament history to win multiple ITA All-American Championships. They open the draw Thursday afternoon against Virginia Tech's Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini.
For some news and notes ...
LIBIETIS' SEASON DEBUT
- The ITA All-American marks Libietis' first collegiate tournament of the season.
- The two-time All-American senior returned to tennis action last month by representing Latvia in a Davis Cup match against Austria. He and Ernests Gulbis beat a pair of top-50 doubles players in straight sets, though Latvia lost the tie 4-1.
- This is the second tournament of the fall for Reese, who played in the SEC Fall Classic, going 2-2.
- In singles, Reese is No. 21 in the preseason rankings and Libietis is No. 23.
LAST YEAR'S RUN TO THE TITLE
- Last year's ITA All-American doubles championship marked a significant breakthrough in national doubles tournaments for Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese. The two were seeded first and put together five wins en route to their first major trophy together.
- The tournament sparked a massive year for the Vols' leading doubles team. They reached the finals of the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships and then won the NCAA Doubles Championship.
- The road was not an easy one. Both Libietis and Reese became ill before the start of the tournament. Libietis even spent a short stint in the hospital before rejoining Reese to win their first round of doubles.
- In a memorable title match, Libietis and Reese came from behind in the third set to beat UCLA's Marco Giron and Mackenzie McDonald 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2). The Vols later beat the same pair in straight sets on their way to the NCAA title in May.
TENNESSEE'S PAST ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONS
- This tournament marks the five-year anniversary of John-Patrick Smith and Boris Conkic's singles and doubles sweep at the ITA All-American Championships. Smith always had success on the Tulsa courts, reaching the NCAA finals there as a freshmen in 2008 and then later winning his first professional singles title at the facility in 2011.
- Singles Champions: 2009 - John-Patrick Smith.
- Doubles Champions: 1986 - Shelby Cannon/Byron Talbot; 2009 - John-Patrick Smith/Boris Conkic; 2013 - Mikelis Libietis/Hunter Reese.
CHASING HISTORY
- Libietis and Reese rank fourth in Tennessee history in career wins as a team with 73 in three season, 36 of those victories coming last year.
- Talbot and Cannon, 1986 winners of the ITA All-American, hold the program record with 102 wins together in their career, in a time when spring seasons generally featured more matches.
- Libietis and Reese are just two wins away from tying Chris Mahony and Pablo Montana (1993-96) for third on the all-time list. Smith and Davey Sandgren are second with 80.
- Individually, Libietis and Reese each have 94 career doubles victories for the orange and white. They did not play together for much of their sophomore seasons, until rejoining near the end of the year and capturing the No. 1 ranking for the first time.
- In singles, Libetis and Reese are nearing the top-15 in career victories. Libietis has 80 and Reese has 78. Davey Sandgren is 15th with 84 wins.
Players Mentioned
