Flames to Host ITA Atlantic Regional Championships Starting Wednesday
10/9/2023 4:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty is set to host the 2023 ITA Men's Atlantic Regional Championships beginning Wednesday at the Liberty Tennis Complex. All seven Flames will participate in the prestigious event.
The 24-team, six-day event consists of premier tennis programs from the Atlantic Region including Virginia, VCU, Old Dominion, Virginia Tech and Penn State. The Liberty Tennis Complex will be the primary location with both upper courts and indoor courts being utilized.
All seven Flames participating will play singles. Liberty plans to field three doubles pairings including Rafael Marques Da Silva and Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith and Luis Felipe Miguel and Matija Samardzic and Chase Robinson.
Ernst Gouws will be the only Flame partcipating in the opening day of the event. Gouws is scheduled to start at 2:30 taking on Mount St. Mary's Victor Mignot.
Liberty hosts the event for the third time in program history with previous runs hosting in 2018 and 2021.
The ITA regional championships includes both singles and doubles tournaments. The regional champions and finalists will earn invitations to compete at the 2023 ITA National Fall Championships, being held Nov. 1-5 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif.
Live scoring or live video will not be available for the matches. Scores will be updated on the ITA website. Matches played at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center will be streamed on PlaySight (link below).
Event/Days/Location:
ITA Men's Atlantic Regional Championships | Oct. 11-16 | Liberty Tennis Complex | Lynchburg, Va.
Liberty Players Participating: Rafael Marques Da Silva, Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith, Luis Felipe Miguel, Chase Robinson, Ernst Gouws, Matija Samardzic
Tournament Website: bit.ly/45nBJIX
Schedule:
Wednesday, October 11:
Rounds of 64 and 32 Bronze Singles.
Round of 32 Bronze Doubles
Thursday, October 12:
Round of 16 Bronze Main Draw Singles and Round of 64 Main Draw Silver Singles. One round of Consolation for 1st match losers of Bronze Draw (played indoors)
Rounds 16 and 8 of Bronze Doubles and one round of Doubles Consolation for 1st match losers of Bronze Doubles.
Friday, October 13:
Rounds of 32 and 16 Silver Main Draw Singles. One round of Consolation for 1st match losers of Silver Draw (played indoors)
Rounds 16 and 8 of Silver Doubles and one round of Doubles Consolation for 1st match losers of Silver Doubles.
Saturday, October 14:
Round of 32 Gold Singles
Rounds of 32 and 16 Gold Doubles and one round of doubles Consolation for 1st match losers of Gold Doubles.
Sunday, October 15:
Rounds of 16 and Quarters of Gold Singles and one round of Consolation for 1st match losers of Gold Draw (played indoors)
Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds of Gold Doubles
Monday, October 16:
Semifinal and Final rounds of Gold Singles
Final round of Gold Doubles
Live Video: bit.ly/3RDxfe4 (Track Tennis)
Tournament Breakdown
Marques Da Silva performed admirably in 2022's ITA Men's Atlantic Regional hosted by Virginia. The then-junior went 2-1 in the main draw of the event, topping VCU's Mattise Bobichlon 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (6) before being bested in the quarterfinals.
Four Flames, Marques Da Silva, Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith and Luis Felipe Miguel, look to build off the experience they shared at the 2023 Men's ITA All-American Championships (Sept. 30-Oct. 2).
Marques Da Silva (4-2) went 3-1 in singles at the event but did not advance past the qualifying round. Miguel (3-3) was 2-1 in singles at the tournament while Thomas-Smith (3-2) was 1-1 Longwe-Smit (3-2) went 0-2. Marques Da Silva and Longwe-Smit were 1-1 in doubles, playing to three sets in both contests.
Going into the event, Longwe-Smit owned a 6-0 overall record, securing a perfect record at the Penn Invitational (Sept. 15-17).
The Flames have three players, Chase Robinson, Ernst Gouws and Matija Samardzic, who will be making their ITA Atlantic Regional debuts on Wednesday.
The 24-team, six-day event consists of premier tennis programs from the Atlantic Region including Virginia, VCU, Old Dominion, Virginia Tech and Penn State. The Liberty Tennis Complex will be the primary location with both upper courts and indoor courts being utilized.
All seven Flames participating will play singles. Liberty plans to field three doubles pairings including Rafael Marques Da Silva and Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith and Luis Felipe Miguel and Matija Samardzic and Chase Robinson.
Ernst Gouws will be the only Flame partcipating in the opening day of the event. Gouws is scheduled to start at 2:30 taking on Mount St. Mary's Victor Mignot.
Liberty hosts the event for the third time in program history with previous runs hosting in 2018 and 2021.
The ITA regional championships includes both singles and doubles tournaments. The regional champions and finalists will earn invitations to compete at the 2023 ITA National Fall Championships, being held Nov. 1-5 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif.
Live scoring or live video will not be available for the matches. Scores will be updated on the ITA website. Matches played at the Liberty Indoor Tennis Center will be streamed on PlaySight (link below).
Event/Days/Location:
ITA Men's Atlantic Regional Championships | Oct. 11-16 | Liberty Tennis Complex | Lynchburg, Va.
Liberty Players Participating: Rafael Marques Da Silva, Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith, Luis Felipe Miguel, Chase Robinson, Ernst Gouws, Matija Samardzic
Tournament Website: bit.ly/45nBJIX
Schedule:
Wednesday, October 11:
Rounds of 64 and 32 Bronze Singles.
Round of 32 Bronze Doubles
Thursday, October 12:
Round of 16 Bronze Main Draw Singles and Round of 64 Main Draw Silver Singles. One round of Consolation for 1st match losers of Bronze Draw (played indoors)
Rounds 16 and 8 of Bronze Doubles and one round of Doubles Consolation for 1st match losers of Bronze Doubles.
Friday, October 13:
Rounds of 32 and 16 Silver Main Draw Singles. One round of Consolation for 1st match losers of Silver Draw (played indoors)
Rounds 16 and 8 of Silver Doubles and one round of Doubles Consolation for 1st match losers of Silver Doubles.
Saturday, October 14:
Round of 32 Gold Singles
Rounds of 32 and 16 Gold Doubles and one round of doubles Consolation for 1st match losers of Gold Doubles.
Sunday, October 15:
Rounds of 16 and Quarters of Gold Singles and one round of Consolation for 1st match losers of Gold Draw (played indoors)
Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds of Gold Doubles
Monday, October 16:
Semifinal and Final rounds of Gold Singles
Final round of Gold Doubles
Live Video: bit.ly/3RDxfe4 (Track Tennis)
Tournament Breakdown
Marques Da Silva performed admirably in 2022's ITA Men's Atlantic Regional hosted by Virginia. The then-junior went 2-1 in the main draw of the event, topping VCU's Mattise Bobichlon 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (6) before being bested in the quarterfinals.
Four Flames, Marques Da Silva, Thando Longwe-Smit, Deji Thomas-Smith and Luis Felipe Miguel, look to build off the experience they shared at the 2023 Men's ITA All-American Championships (Sept. 30-Oct. 2).
Marques Da Silva (4-2) went 3-1 in singles at the event but did not advance past the qualifying round. Miguel (3-3) was 2-1 in singles at the tournament while Thomas-Smith (3-2) was 1-1 Longwe-Smit (3-2) went 0-2. Marques Da Silva and Longwe-Smit were 1-1 in doubles, playing to three sets in both contests.
Going into the event, Longwe-Smit owned a 6-0 overall record, securing a perfect record at the Penn Invitational (Sept. 15-17).
The Flames have three players, Chase Robinson, Ernst Gouws and Matija Samardzic, who will be making their ITA Atlantic Regional debuts on Wednesday.
Players Mentioned
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