Mena to square off with Louisville’s Morin-Kougoucheff in first round of NCAA singles championships
For the final time representing the Tennessee Tech tennis team, Eduardo Mena will hit the courts to cap off a historical career in purple and gold.
NCAA Division I Singles Championships Bracket
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the final time representing the Tennessee Tech tennis team, Eduardo Mena will hit the courts to cap off a historical career in purple and gold.
Having already been selected to compete in the NCAA Division I singles championships, Mena has learned who he will play and when he will play with the release of the 64-man bracket Tuesday afternoon. The two-time OVC Player of the Year and nation's 66th-ranked player is set to lock up with Louisville's Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff Wednesday at 11 a.m. CT from the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The tournament is single-elimination format and lasts until Monday, May 28. The second round is on Thursday, while the round of 16 is on Friday, the quarterfinals are on Saturday and the semifinals are on Sunday.
Live video as well as live stats will be available throughout the tournament. Click here for live video. Click here for live stats.
Should Mena advance, he will square off with the winner of North Carolina's William Blumberg and San Diego's August Holmgren in Thursday's second round.
Mena's spot in the exclusive field of 64 already puts the Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain native in rarified air as the first ever Golden Eagle to participate in the singles championship in two different seasons after participating in last year's event. Borja Zarco is the only other Tennessee Tech men's tennis player to take aim in the tournament with an appearance back in 2008.
In last year's championships in Athens, Ga., Mena made history by becoming the first Golden Eagle to ever win a match in the tournament with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory over Baylor's Maxime Tchoutakian in the first round.
Mena was last spotted in the team NCAA championships, where he led in his singles bout against the second-ranked player in the country and two-time SEC Player of the Year, Nuno Borges. Mena took home the first set, 7-6 (11-9), in the No. 1 singles clash on May 11 at Mississippi State.
Mena has had success against his opening-round opponent in Louisville's No. 1 singles competitor and nation's 69th-ranked player, Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff. Mena rallied after falling in the first set to top Morin-Kougoucheff in three sets last year and also knocked off the Capbreton, France native in straight-sets as a sophomore in 2016.
Mena's selection in this year's NCAA Division I singles championships is one of 15 automatic qualifier spots, representing the Ohio Valley Conference in the field of 64. The conference was awarded with an automatic qualification by virtue of having one or more eligible singles players ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Top 125. All singles players must have a minimum of 13 completed singles matches, with six matches in the spring, in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection. There are 49 at-large selections.
Photo by Tony Marable
