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Elbaba Set To Compete At American Collegiate Invitational
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Sept. 9, 2015
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), a senior on the Virginia women’s tennis team, will continue her fall competition this week as she prepares to take the court at the American Collegiate Invitational on Thursday.
Elbaba will face off against Julia Jones, who completed a playing career at Ole Miss this past season. The two All-Americans will face off at a time to be announced.
It’s the second year of the event that runs in conjunction with the US Open and features 16 of the top collegiate tennis players in the nation. Eight men and eight women will compete in the event that runs through Saturday.
“I’m ecstatic,” Elbaba said. “It’s such a great opportunity that the USTA has now provided for college players to compete on the U.S. Open grounds. It gives us great exposure and letting everyone see that college players do have talent and you don’t have to skip the college experience to be a great professional tennis player.”
The American Collegiate Invitational champions will receive main draw wild card entries into the 2016 US Open if either is ranked No. 120 or better by the US Open entry deadline next summer. Otherwise, the winners will receive qualifying wild cards. The champions will also get wild cards into two USTA Pro Circuit events, while each runner-up will get one.
Elbaba competed in last year’s inaugural American Collegiate Invitational and finished as runner-up in the event behind North Carolina’s Jamie Loeb.
Since arriving at Virginia, Elbaba has proven to be on the nation’s top singles player. She won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Singles Championship last fall, and the now three-time ITA All-American has recorded 30-plus singles wins in each of her three seasons. Last season she posted a 30-7 record en route to securing the No. 5 Oracle/ITA National Singles Ranking, a personal-best finish in the final rankings. Elbaba also set a new mark for the Cavaliers when she became the first player in program history to ascend to the No. 1 national singles ranking, a ranking she held in February and March.