University of Minnesota Athletics
Toledo Opens National Indoors Thursday
11/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships Singles Bracket
FLUSHING, N.Y. - Minnesota men's tennis senior Leandro Toledo is set to compete at USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Toledo, who received an ITA wildcard bid for the tournament, will take on No. 11-ranked Harrison Adams of Texas A&M in the first round Thursday at noon CT.
Toledo will compete in the 32-player singles draw, qualifying for the second time in his career.
The Hamburg, Germany native is currently ranked 22nd in the nation and is 7-2 on the fall season after competing in the ITA All-American Championships and the ITA Central Region Championships. He reached the third round of the All-American Championships with wins over two ranked opponents before reaching the Central Regional final. One more win in either tournament would have secured an automatic bid for the National Indoor Championships.
In 2012 as a sophomore, Toledo became the first Gopher since 2002 to appear in the tournament. The 2014 All-American won his first-round match versus John Lamble of Santa Clara, 6-4, 6-0, before falling to No. 5 seed Marcus Giron of UCLA.
His current career singles record stands at 78-34. Seventeen of those wins have come against ranked opponents. He is 3-4 against players in this year's National Indoors field with six of those seven matches having come against players with top-six seeds.
Adams, a junior from New Braunfels, Texas, is 7-3 on the season and comes into the tournament with a four-match winning streak that includes victories against No. 44 Tim Kopinski and a straight-set victory of No. 6 Jared Hiltzik, both of Illinois. He also received an at-large bid into the tournament.
Dating back to 1980, a Minnesota men's tennis player has won the prestigious tournament one time. Harsh Mankad defeated Baylor's Benjamin Becker, 6-7 (5), 6-0, 7-6 (2), to capture the title in 2001.
The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships will be the last fall tournament for Minnesota. The Gophers' spring season opens Jan. 17 with matches against Marquette and South Dakota State and the Baseline Tennis Center.
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