ABILENE – Abilene Christian University once again is a proud host of an
ITA Summer Circuit competition, which takes place the weekend of June 23-26. Twenty-three men and 34 women currently are registered to compete including current and soon-to-be Wildcats
Jordan Henry (Sr.), Stephanie Pitts (Fr.) and Allison Stewart (Fr.); however, registration will remain open until
Thursday, June 21, 12:30 a.m. EDT.
This coming weekend's set of competitions is the first of six leading up to the ITA National Summer Championships, which will take place in Ft. Worth from Aug. 10-14.
Summer circuit tournaments also will be held across nationwide the weekend's of June 30 - July 2, July 7-9, 14-16, 21-23 and 28-30, including Texas-based stops in Tyler, UT Dallas, Arlington, SMU and Lubbock.
Junior
Jonathan Sheehy tied for 16th place among all national competitors with 320 points during the 2017 ITA Summer Circuit, and the year previous, his older brother senior
Josh Sheehy tied Northwestern's Jason Seidman for second place.
Scroll further to learn more about the ITA Summer Circuit.
ICYMI ... Head coach
Hutton Jones Friday morning took ACU Sports on a tour of the John T.L. Jones Jr. Tennis Building, which is expected to be completed in time for the 2018-19 school year. Click the video to learn more about Wildcat Athletics' newest facility.
About ITA Summer Circuit powered by UTR
The ITA Summer Circuit was created to provide college players the opportunity to compete in organized events year-round. Although the primary purpose of the circuit is to provide incoming freshman and collegiate players the chance to compete in the summer months, for NCAA compliance purposes, the events are categorized as "open"; therefore, anyone (including high level juniors and adults) is eligible to compete in these events as long as he/she is a current ITA member. The ITA Summer Circuit is currently made up of 49 events over six consecutive weekends, beginning in mid- June and continuing through the last weekend in July.
ITA Summer Playing Membership
All participants must purchase a 2018 ITA Summer Playing Membership ($30) in order to compete in a Summer Circuit event. Participants can only purchase an
ITA membership through the ITA website.
Draws & Seeding
In an effort with UTR (Universal Tennis Ranking) to promote level-based play and decrease the number of non-competitive matches in the circuit, once registration is complete, competitor fields will be divided into draws no larger than 32 participants and based on player UTRs. Tournament directors will seed 25 percent of each draw based on player UTRs.
Consolation
All events will provide first match loser consolation (FMLC) in all singles draws. All doubles draws are single elimination with no consolation matches unless the tournament director specifies otherwise.
Scoring Format
The scoring format for singles will be 2 out of 3 sets with a 10-point match tie break in lieu of a 3rd set using no-ad scoring. Doubles will play an 8-game pro-set using no-ad scoring with a 7-point tie break held at 7-all. Men's draws will use the Division I collegiate no-let rule.
ITA Summer Circuit Points Race
The ITA office will track points and post a "points race standings" each week on the ITA website. At the conclusion of the circuit, the top 5 men and the top 5 women will receive automatic entry into the ITA National Summer Championships as well as a $600 travel reimbursement to be used towards the expense of attending the ITA National Summer Championships at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
