The Gustavus men’s tennis team is set to host the 2011 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional and Gustavus Midwest Open this weekend, Sept. 30-Oct. 2 on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.
The USTA/ITA Men’s Division III Regional Championships at Gustavus will feature 22 of the top small college tennis programs in the region. The singles and doubles champions from this weekend’s tournament advance to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championships, which will take place at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama on October 13-16.
Gustavus’ Amrik Donkena enters the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed in the singles bracket. Fellow Gusties Patrick Clark and Juan Luis Chu also enter seeded in the top-16 – Clarked seeded fourth and Chu seeded 14th.
UW-Whitewater’s Byron Balkin and Mitch Osborne enter the doubles tournament the No. 1 overall seed. Gustavus’ Donkena and Mya Smith-Dennis will look to challenge the Warhawk pair from the lower bracket as the second seed.
Over 145 of the top singles and doubles players in the Midwest will take part in the tournament beginning with singles matches on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. The Swanson Indoor Tennis Center, located on the west edge of the Gustavus campus, will serve as headquarters for the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, with matches taking place at Swanson and the adjacent Brown Outdoor Courts, as well as the Gibbs Tennis Courts, which are situated just north of the Gustavus main entrance.