University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Ranked No. 25 By ITA
1/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 6, 2012
The ITA released its men's tennis rankings earlier this week and the University of Minnesota is well represented. The Gophers are ranked No. 25 overall and have one ranked player in singles and two ranked team in doubles.
Freshmen Leandro Toledo will begin the dual-match season at No. 118. The Hamburg, Germany, native began his collegiate career with a team-best 11-3 singles record in the fall. He defeated three top-30 opponents and advanced to the Round of 16 at the USTA/ITA Central Regional Championships in Tulsa, Okla. by beating No. 29-ranked Japie De Klerk of Tulsa.
Toledo lost in first round of Big Ten Indoors in Iowa City, but finished the fall with eight consecutive wins. He won all four consolation matches at the Big Ten Indoors before going 4-0 at the Gopher Invitational to win the top flight. At the Minnesota-hosted tournament, he posted three-set victories against No. 28 Casey Watt of Notre Dame and No. 30 Enej Bonin of Denver.
In doubles, the tandem of Rok Bonin and Julian Dehn is ranked No. 50 (No. 8 in the ITA Central Region), while Toledo and Phillip Arndt are No. 55 (No. 9 in the ITA Central Region).
Bonin and Dehn, who were 16-1 in doubles overall last year and 10-1 in dual-match play, were limited to only five matched together this fall as Bonin overcame an injury. The duo was 3-2 in doubles this fall, which included a run to the semifinals at the Central Regional Championship.
Toledo and Arndt were 3-3 in doubles in the fall and reached the quarterfinals of the Central Regional Championship.
Minnesota is the third-highest ranked Big Ten team behind Ohio State (No. 3) and Illinois (No. 17). The Gophers begin the spring season at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 against Marquette at Baseline Tennis Center.
