The Arizona State men's tennis team will open its spring season against Duke on Jan. 13 in team competition, but some Sun Devils are in action this weekend at the Claremont USTA Futures Classic held at the Claremont Club in California..@SunDevilMTennis returns to The Valley this fall! pic.twitter.com/xn9ijaL7kv
— Sun Devil Athletics (@TheSunDevils) August 11, 2017
"We're very excited for our first tournament," says Sun Devil head coach Matt Hill. "It's an exciting time for many reasons. We're excited to see these guys compete and be able to coach them. Our coaching staff is using this fall to assess our team and get a feel for what we will have in the spring. That's a big focus for these first three events. We're excited to be playing three professional tournaments. This is a key indicator of how these guys operate."
Freshman William Kirkman will face Connor Rapp, Sophomore Makey Rakotomalala matches up with Hong-Lin Fu and sophomore Tim Ruehl plays Ryan Van de Water to open the tournament on Friday. Ronan Joncour and Michael Geerts will compete in the main draw that begins over the weekend.
"The first three tournaments are professional tournaments," says Hill. "These players are looking to play professional tennis, that is their long-term aspiration. We want to continue to put them out there and see where they are against the better players and see what areas need to be sharpened to differentiate them from the circuit. Our goal is to see them play this sport at a level where they can sustain success and make a living out of it."Coach Matt Hill is using international talent to build #ASU's brand new @SunDevilMTennis team from scratch. https://t.co/L4uSTMVX9X pic.twitter.com/oqkKGAryzr
— CN | Phoenix Sports (@sportscronkite) August 31, 2017
Coach Hill helps assemble outstanding team of consultants to work with Sun Devil tennis programs! https://t.co/RNspbSD7rV
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) August 4, 2017
The Sun Devils also will play Futures Tournaments in Laguna Niguel (Sept. 15-22) and Fountain Valley (Sept. 22-29) before playing in the Oracle Masters (Sept. 21-24), the ITA All-American in Tulsa (Sept. 29-Oct. 9), ITA Regionals (Oct. 18-23) and the ITA Indian Wells Championship (Nov. 1-5).
WHAT ARE THEIR MAJORS (AS OF FALL 2017)?
Pierre-Louis Dodens, Liberal Studies
Michael Geerts, Liberal Studies
Benjamin Hannestad, Explore-Social & Behavior Science
Ronan Joncour, Business (Global Politics)
William Kirkman, Psychology
Baonoroman (Makey) Rakotomalala, Explore-Social & Behavioral Science
Tim Ruehl, Business (Sports & Media Studies)
Carsyn Smith, Mechanical Engineering
Thomas Wright, Criminology & Criminal Justice