USC travels to Tulsa for tournament

Three members from the No. 1 USC men’s tennis team will travel to the Midwest, looking to showcase their abilities in singles play.

Senior Daniel Nguyen and sophomore Ray Sarmiento, ranked No. 16 and No. 15, respectively, and freshman Yannick Hanfmann will represent the cardinal and gold at the ITA Men’s All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

Challenge · Senior Daniel Nguyen will face some of the top players in the nation this week in the ITA Men’s All-American Championship. - Mannat Saini | Daily Trojan

Nguyen and Sarmiento will compete in the singles main draw starting Thursday, while Hanfmann needs to win three consecutive matches in the singles qualifying draw from today through Wednesday to join his teammates in the quest for a singles title. USC will not have any players participate in the doubles draw.

The three players enter the first ITA event of the year after efforts at the Harvard Fall Chowder Fest in Cambridge, Mass., last week. Sarmiento and Hanfmann were both undefeated at the tournament, posting 3-0 records. Nguyen went 2-1 with a loss to No. 8 Evan King of Michigan, who will also be in the singles draw in Tulsa.

To play in tournaments such as the Fall Chowder Fest and the All-Americans gives the players a chance to hone their games before beginning the season in January.

“The fall is for trying different strategies and pushing the guys to play in a certain way,” USC coach Peter Smith said. “We’re just trying to get [the players] to grow so they can be their best [in the NCAA championships] in May.”

Most of the top players in the current ITA singles rankings will participate in the singles main draw, including Ohio State’s No. 2 Blaž Rola, Kentucky’s No. 3 Eric Quigley and Duke’s No. 4 Henrique Cunha. Last year’s champion sophomore No. 1 Alex Domijan will not participate because of an injury.

Despite the tough competition awaiting them, the players look forward to the chance at reaching the top of the singles ladder. It will take six consecutive wins in the main draw to earn the singles title.

“Winning it would be great, but we got to take it one match at a time,” Nguyen said.

Wins at the renowned competition, featuring more than 300 players vying for a national title, could spark an early season confidence boost for the players.

“A tournament like the All-Americans is all about having big wins and getting confident,” Smith said. “It can do a lot for a player’s season.”

Sarmiento and Hanfmann have never competed in the All-American Championship in previous years, but Nguyen enters the competition for the third year in a row, looking for a repeat performance. Last year Nguyen was the only Trojan to make it out of the first round.

“I have to prepare myself for two matches in the first day,” Nguyen said. “I remember last year I was beat up by the second matchup. I’m definitely going to use some prior experience in my last tournament [in Tulsa].”