Nov. 2, 2017
By Joanne Norell
PALM DESERT, Calif. – University of Notre Dame men’s tennis junior Alex Lebedev has advanced to the round of 16 in his third major tournament of the fall, defeating Marcus Walters of Tyler Junior College in the second round of the ITA National Fall Championships at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa.
Lebedev downed Walters 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday, coming back from a one-break deficit in the first set and then breaking early in the second. He has improved to 8-3 in singles this fall and also advanced to at least the round of 16 at both the ITA All-American Championships and ITA Midwest Regional Championships earlier this season.
Lebedev will face the winner of the second-round match between No. 2 Nuno Borges of Mississippi State and No. 42 Ryo Matsumura of Kentucky.
Play in the Round of 16 will begin at noon ET Friday, followed by the quarterfinal round. The rest of the Irish team will begin play at the Gopher Invitational at the University of Minnesota.
Oracle ITA National Fall Championships
Indian Wells Tennis Garden & JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa
Palm Desert, California
Nov. 1-5, 2017
Singles Main Draw
Round of 64
No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) def. [10] No. 59 Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 6-1, 7-5
Round of 32
No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) vs. Marcus Walters (TJC) 6-4, 6-4
Round of 16
No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) vs. [1] No. 2 Nuno Borges (Miss. St) or No. 42 Ryo Matsumura (UK)
–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.