Seven days. 32 of the toughest tennis players in America. Beautiful Pacific Palisades, California. These are some things that five of Duke’s athletes have to look forward to this week in the ITA/Riviera All-American Championships.
Seniors Nadine Fahoum, Ellah Nze, Reka Zsilinszka and Elizabeth Plotkin—all of whom earned rankings in the ITA preseason top 50—and sophomore Mary Clayton will represent the Blue Devils at this highly competitive tournament hosted for the 26th year by the Riviera Tennis Club October 4-10.
“Historically it’s one of the toughest tournaments because it’s the hardest to get into,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said.
In order to qualify, competitors either have to be a returning All-American or win one of several exclusive summer tournaments.
“It’s tougher to get into...the main draw than it is to get into the NCAA tournament just because of the size of the draw,” Ashworth said. “Everyone has basically earned their way in.”
Clayton was the only Blue Devil who needed to qualify individually, as her four teammates garnered All-American statuses last season. The sophomore won the ITA National Collegiate Summer Championship this August in order to cement her spot in the All-American Championships this year.
“I think that winning the summer tournament gave me a little bit of a boost coming into this, considering it’s the last singles tournament that I’ve played,” Clayton said. “And I feel like we’ve been preparing really well for it, singles and doubles, so I feel ready to play, ready to compete.”
No. 25-ranked Zsilinszka, who emerged victorious from the Fab Four Invite two weeks ago, looks forward to the tournament and its high intensity and new competition.
“Being a senior I feel like I used to know everybody, and now, even this last tournament, I felt like I just knew a couple people,” Zsilinszka said. “I think most of the people that I might be playing will be freshmen, sophomores. I want to see what the new crop looks like. All-American is an amazing tournament. Every single year, it’s the best competition in the country so regardless of who I play it’s going to be a really tough match, so I’m just hoping to get some good wins in to start the season.”
Junior Monica Gorny and freshman Hanna Mar will also be competing this weekend at the San Diego State University Fall Classic at the Aztec Tennis Center in San Diego. With their tournament concluding Sunday, Gorny and Mar will be able to cheer on their teammates in Pacific Palisades. The Blue Devils are ready for their West Coast challengers.
“They’ll do fine, we’ve done a good job preparing,” Ashworth said. “The level of our team, they’re going to get good competition everyday in practice. They’ve done a good job preparing in that way.”
This will be Duke’s last tournament before the ITA Regionals, which will be held in Chapel Hill October 21-26.
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