SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men's tennis players Sander Gjoels-Andersen, Jan Kirchhoff, Ignacio Martinez and Arnaud Restifo will represent the Aztecs this weekend in the singles pre-qualifying draw of the 2018 Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
In addition, Gjoels-Andersen and Martinez will join forces in the Sooner State for the qualifying round of doubles at Michael D. Case Tennis Center
For the 14th consecutive season, the University of Tulsa will serve as the official tournament host, with singles pre-qualifying matches leading off the event on Saturday, Sept. 29. In addition, singles and doubles qualifying play will commence on Monday, Oct. 1, while the main draw for both singles and doubles competition is scheduled to start on Thursday, Oct. 4 and conclude with championship matches on Monday, Oct. 8.
In the singles round of 256 on Saturday morning, Kirchhoff will square off against Lenhard Haupt of Western Michigan at 8 a.m. CT (6 a.m. PT), while Martinez will battle Marcello Moreira of Oral Roberts at 11 a.am CT (9 a.m. PT). Later, Gjoels-Andersen is set to face UT Arlington's Mauricio del Rio at noon CT (10 a.m. PT), while Restifo will lock horns with Hofstra's Shawn Jackson at 2 p.m. CT (noon PT).
In addition to vying for the All-American national title, players will be competing to secure a berth in the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which are slated for Nov. 7-11 in Surprise, Ariz. Singles quarterfinalists, consolation singles champion and finalist, along with doubles semifinalists and consolation doubles champion and finalist, advance to the end of fall national championship.
Pre-qualifying for singles will consist of 256 athletes competing for 16 spots for the qualifying rounds, while qualifying for singles will feature 128 players, with 16 spots into the main draw up for grabs.
Qualifying rounds for doubles play will be comprised of 64 teams, competing for just eight spots into the main draw. The main doubles draw will be comprised of 32 teams, while the field for singles will include 64 student-athletes.
All four SDSU players will be making their second appearances of the 2018 fall schedule. Last weekend, Gjoels-Andersen and Martinez competed at the Bay in the Bay Classic in San Francisco, Calif., while Kirchhoff and Restifo traveled to the desert for the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Ariz.
Martinez concluded his northern California excursion with a pair of victories in consolation singles play on Sept. 23, highlighted by a triumph in a super-tiebreaker over Bertus Kruger of TCU, who climbed as high as No. 81 in the ITF World Junior Tennis rankings. In addition, Kirchhoff was a double winner in Arizona, capturing the title match in his consolation compass bracket with a straight-set conquest of Boise State's Wyatt DeMulling.
Select Aztecs will also be on display next weekend when the Scarlet and Black plays host to the Aztec Fall Invitational, Oct. 5-7.