ITA Cup Information
Emory University seniors Jonathan Jemison (Marietta, GA) and Adrien Bouchet (Oakton, VA) will represent the Emory men's tennis program this week at the ITA Oracle Cup. The event, held at the Rome (GA) Tennis Center begins on Thursday (Oct. 11) and runs through Sunday. The ITA Cup is formerly the Small College Championships.
The ITA Cup includes the winners of the singles and doubles at eight USTA/ITA regional championships. The Oracle Cup include selections from NCAA Division II, III, NAIA and junior/community colleges. Each division represented will feature eight singles players and eight doubles teams, competing in their respective draws.
Each of the four divisional singles champions (Divisions II, III, NAIA and JUCO) will be automatically entered in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which takes place at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona, Nov. 7-11.
Jemison will be competing in the D-III singles bracket as the No. 1 seed, with his opening match taking place on Thursday morning against Ethan Hillis of Washington University. Jemison played his way into this weekend's action after winning the ITA South Region Singles title.
In doubles, Bouchet and Jemison enter the ITA Cup unseeded. The Eagle tandem will square off against the No. 2-seeded team of Tyler Raclin and Jeremy Yuan from Chicago. Bouchet and Jemison are coming off a first-place finish at the ITA South Region Doubles Championship, defeating teammates James Spaulding and Hayden Cassone in the finals.
Men's doubles will still take part and compete for the ITA Cup, with the winners of those draws moving on to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
The ITA Cup has history dating back to 1986, and it is the only singles and doubles national championship event for the Division II and NAIA levels. This year, more than 8,000 players took part in a total of 60 regional tournaments to gain entry into the ITA Cup field.
Emory will also send a contingent of players to the Grizzly Open, which will be played on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College. Action at the Grizzly Open begins on Friday and runs through Sunday.