Men's Tennis Players Set for NCAA Championship
May 25, 2010 | Men's Tennis
May 25, 2010
The University of Louisville's Austen Childs will face Tennessee's top-ranked Jon-Patrick Smith in the first round of the 64-player NCAA singles championship Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari will face UCLA's Nick Meister and Amit Inbar Thursday at a time yet to be announced.
The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 26-31 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., following the conclusion of the team championship (May 21-25). The University of Georgia will serve as host.
"I am excited that Austen gets his second chance at the number one player in our sport," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "This is what the NCAA singles championship is all about. He has defeated Oleksandr Nedovysesov, who was once ranked No. 1 - why can't he do it again?"
This will mark the second matchup between Austen Childs and Smith who faced each other in Louisville's 4-0 loss to No. 2 Tennessee on May 21. Smith, nation's top-ranked player, defeated No. 19 Childs 6-2, 6-2.
This is the third straight NCAA singles championship appearance for Childs, the 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year. The junior from Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand is currently No. 19 in the ITA Singles rankings and has posted a 26-11 overall record while going 20-5 as Louisville's No. 1 player. He is a three-time all-conference selection and two-time Player of the Year.
Fellow juniors Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari are ranked 26th in the ITA doubles rankings will face UCLA's 16th ranked team of Amit Inbar and Nick Meister. Calligari (Bradenton, Fla.) and Simon Childs (Hillington, England) have tallied an 11-3 mark this spring. While Simon Childs and Austen Childs (no relation) have played in two NCAA doubles championships, this is the first NCAA doubles appearance for Childs and Calligari.
"Simon and Alejandro faced a very talented team from UCLA," said Ecarma. "UCLA is a talented and experienced team, but so are we. This is Simon's third NCAA championship, so he is not sweating it and Ale has played plenty of top 10 matches. We are all happy to be representing Louisville in college tennis' main event."
Players Mentioned
