Men's Tennis Moves up to No. 23
April 14, 2009 | Men's Tennis
April 14, 2009
The University of Louisville men's tennis team moved up three spots to No. 23 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings. Sophomore Austen Childs jumped 10 spots to No. 31 and Viktor Maksimcuk is No. 79 in singles. Austen Childs and Simon Childs are No. 21 while Simon Childs and Viktor Maksimcuk are No. 82.
This marks the sixth week the Cards have been ranked in the top 25. They reached their highest ranking of the season at No. 14 on March 11.
Austen Childs (Mt Maunganui, New Zealand) carries a 25-12 overall record and is 16-4 as Louisville's No. 1 player. He has been ranked among the top 50 in the nation all season after being No. 26 in the preseason rankings. Maksimcuk (Subotica, Serbia) reached his highest ranked at No. 74 and has spent the last four ranking periods in the top 85. He owns a team-best 29-7 record and is 19-4 playing mostly at No. 2.
Earlier in the season, Childs and Childs earned the program's highest doubles ranking at No. 6, they have spend the rest of the season among the top 25 in the nation with a 26-8 overall mark and a 13-5 record at the top seed. Recently, Simon Childs and Maksimcuk paired to tally a 2-1 record with their most recent win coming over Notre Dame's 23rd ranked duo of Brett Helgeson and Tyler Davis.
"It is good to get back in the top 25 after a one week absence," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "When it comes down to any Big East Championships, once the tournament you throw the ranking out of the window and just rely on instincts and passion. It is nice to see Austen at #31, this puts him in strong contention to make his second NCAA Singles Championship appearance. Austen and Simon are in good position to make their second NCAA Doubles Championships. One of our goals every year is to achieve the tennis `Triple Crown.' This means to qualify for the NCAA tournament in singles, doubles and team. Hopefully we can do that this year. On a fun note, because Viktor and Simon upset the Top 25 doubles team of Notre Dame they have achieved a national ranking as well. Simon becomes the first player to be ranked with a different partner in the same ranking week. Jeremy Clark's record of being nationally ranked in the Top 60 with 3 different partners is something Simon is shooting for."
The Cardinals (18-6) earned a No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Conference Championship and will open play on Friday, April 17 against the winner of Villanova and Connecticut.
