Oct. 19, 2017
By Joanne Norell
Singles Qualifying Draw | Doubles Main Draw
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Three University of Notre Dame men’s tennis players remain standing after two rounds of qualifying play kicked off the weekend at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships on Thursday at Michigan’s Varsity Tennis Center.
Fourth-seeded freshman William Howells, 9-16 seed freshman Paul Gota and 17-24 seed junior Nathan Griffin were each perfect in the opening two rounds of qualifying and will enter Friday’s third round with eyes on main draw entries. The top eight players from the qualifying pool will earn slots into Saturday’s main draw first round.
Play continues Friday with a final round of singles qualifying, slated to begin at 8 a.m. ET, followed by three rounds of doubles beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Lawson Captures Second Career Pro Doubles Title
Irish alum Alex Lawson (’16) has collected the second professional doubles title of his career, winning the ITF F24 Futures Internationaux de Tennis du Grand Rodez Aveyron on Thursday in Rodez, France.
Lawson and partner Nathaniel Lammons (SMU, ’16) were the tournament’s top seed and defeated fourth-seeded Antoine Hoang and Ugo Humbert of France in the final, 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-7.
Last month, the duo won the ITF F20 Futures tournament in Plaisir, France.
The Tuscon, Arizona, native is ranked No. 203 in the world ATP rankings, having risen steadily since joining the tour following his graduation.
ITA Midwest Regional Championships
Varsity Tennis Center
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Oct. 19-23, 2017
Thursday – Singles Qualifying
First Round
[4] William Howells (ND) def. Luuk Wassenaar (DEP) 6-3, 6-3
[9-16] Paul Gota (ND) def. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
[17-24] Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Billy Shisler (MSU) 7-6, 6-3
[17-24] Brett Myers (MU) def. Drew Dawson (ND) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
Second Round
[4] William Howells (ND) def. Chris Greve (ISU) 6-0, 6-1
[9-16] Paul Gota (ND) def. James Ling (UWGB) 6-3, 6-3
[17-24] Nathan Griffin (ND) def. [9-16] Florian Kraenzler (UWGB) 6-4, 6-3
Friday – Singles Qualifying
Third Round
[4] William Howells (ND) vs. Luka Soskic (UDM)
[9-16] Paul Gota (ND) vs. Luke Phillips (CSU)
[17-24] Nathan Griffin (ND) vs. Garrett Gardner (VALPO)
Friday – Doubles
First Round
[3-4] No. 38 Grayson Broadus / Brendon Kempin (ND) vs. Davis Crocker / Carter Lin (UM)
[9-16] William Howells / Alex Lebedev (ND) vs. Louis-Philippe Hamel / Tom Hjertonsson (NIU)
[9-16] Richard Ciamarra / Matt Gamble (ND) vs. Brian Pecyna / Nick Marino (VALPO)
[17-24] Guillermo Cabrera / Tristan McCormick (ND) vs. Charlie Croxford / Miles McDowall (UWGB)
Paul Gota / Nathan Griffin (ND) vs. Maik Steiner / Jannik Opitz (WMU)
Daniel Rayl / Conor Somers (ND) vs. Chase Colton / Osgar O’Hoison (UW)
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.