Summer Tennis Update - Hoos in the Pros
It has been quite a summer for our Cavaliers playing in the pros. Last week, there were FIVE players who played on both the 2015 and 2016 National Champion teams who were ranked in the ATP top-500. When it comes to rankings, J.C. Aragone leads the way, moving up to a career-best No. 276, becoming the sixth former Cavalier play to crack the top-300 of the world rankings. Collin Altamirano (350) and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (376) are also on their way to reaching that threshold.
Dominic Inglot has moved back into the top-30 of the ATP doubles rankings, currently sitting at No. 28. Inglot has had an impressive summer, advancing to the semis in Gentlemen’s Doubles at Wimbledon, his best-ever finish at the major in his home country. Inglot has won three ATP titles this year, two while partnering with Franko Skugor, hoisting the trophy at both the Gazprom Hungarian Open and the Libema Open in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, and winning the Istanbul Open with Robert Lindstedt.
Kwiatkowski was also playing in the main draw of an ATP 500 event, advancing through qualifying to earn a place in the Citi Open. It was the second time this summer a Cavalier qualified for the main singles draw of an ATP tournament as Aragone played his way into the Dell Tech Open in Newport, R.I., in July.
Aragone and Kwiatkowski have also been collecting hardware this summer. In back-to-back weeks, Aragone won the doubles title at Winston-Salem Futures on June 23 and followed up that win by picking up the singles title the next week at Kelowna Futures in British Columbia, Canada. Two weeks ago, Aragone had his best-ever finish at a Challenger, finishing as the runner-up in doubles at the Granby Challenger. Kwiatkowski also had back-to-back titles, taking the singles crown at Calgary Futures, followed by winning the doubles crown the next week in Kelowna, B.C.
Alexander Ritschard has had a meteoric rise through the rankings this year. Ritschard opened 2018 ranked No. 1045. He now sits at No. 478, helped by an amazing run in the late spring/early summer when he won 18-straight matches. Two weeks ago at the Binghamton Challenger, he picked up his 40th win of the year, amassing a 41-12 singles record.
After finishing the spring by winning the doubles and singles titles at Singapore Futures at the end of May, Altamirano has had strong showings in Challengers in July, advancing to the semifinals in singles in Winnetka and the quarterfinals of singles last week in Lexington.
Ryan Shane has recently returned to the courts, competing in qualifying at the Binghamton Challenger and for the Citi Open. Treat Huey continues his rehab from his back injury and looks forward to soon returning to competitive play.
It isn’t just our alums that have been playing in professional tournaments this summer. Sophomore Gianni Ross made a deep run at the Rochester Futures tournament in June. Ross advanced through qualifying into the main draw, making it all the way to the semifinals. He also partnered with incoming Hoo Ryan Goetz in doubles, advancing to the quarterfinals. After also playing in the Pittsburgh Futures, Ross headed over to Spain, playing in three Futures tournaments, advancing to the Round of 16 in Gandia. Goetz has played in four Futures tournaments this summer with his best finish being a run to the quarters in Rochester. The Cavaliers other incoming freshman, William Woodall, spent his summer playing at the Junior French Open and Junior Wimbledon, advancing to the Round of 16 in doubles of the latter.
If you want to follow all of our Hoos in the Pros, you can check out the updates we post every Monday here.