Baylor Men's Tennis Opens Fall Play Across North America

WACO, Texas – The Baylor men’s tennis squad officially kicks off its season on Thursday, beginning a three-tournament weekend across the United States and Mexico. Nine Bears will be spread across in competition at the Battle in the Bay Classic in San Francisco, Calif., the Big 12/SEC Challenge in Stillwater, Okla., and the USA Collegiate Cup in Torreon, Mexico.

Bears headed to the Battle of the Bay are sophomores Luc Koenig and Zsombor Velcz. The Battle is in its 13th year at the California Tennis Club. Koenig and Velcz join the field of 64, which gives the victors of each singles and doubles bracket a wildcard into an ATP Challenger or Futures tournament. 

Staying closer to home, Christopher Frantzen, Ethan Muza and Justin Braverman will journey up I-35 for the Big 12/SEC Challenge, hosted by Oklahoma State. Baylor joins the hosting Cowboys and Texas Tech, as the Big 12 faces off against SEC opponents Tennessee, Alabama and Texas A&M.

Trekking south of the border, Marko Miladinović, Oskar Brostrom Poulsen, Martin Breysach and Louis Bowden are set to compete in Mexico at the US Collegiate Cup. The Bears will face conference foes from TCU, OU and Texas, with other schools in attendance.

In the preseason ITA rankings, Baylor was represented in six spots, highlighted by the first-team All-Big 12 duo of Tadeas Paroulek and Velcz at No. 3 in doubles. Breysach and Brostrom Poulsen join them in the doubles list, ranked 48th. Paroulek (No. 38), Brostrom Poulsen (No. 72) and Velcz (No. 114) are also featured in the singles rankings, while Bowden is ranked ninth on the freshman/newcomer list.

Fans can follow the Battle of the Bay on the ITA website, with draws, results and upcoming schedules posted daily. Information for the USA Collegiate Cup will also be made available on the ITA website, once published. An order of play for the Big 12/SEC Challenge can be found here.

Scoring for all three tournaments will be in one place at BaylorBears.com and will be posted live on the team’s social media accounts.