Jack Katzman Ranked No. 4 in Nation in First 2018-19 ITA Rankings

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Sophomore Jack Katzman of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's tennis team was ranked fourth in the nation in the first ITA Division III singles rankings, at the conclusion of the NCAA's fall competition.

Katzman was ranked No. 4 after reaching the finals of the ITA West Regionals singles championship, which was held in Claremont from Sept. 28-30.  After taking his first four matches of the ITA West Regionals without dropping a set, Katzman dropped a close battle (6-4, 6-4) in the finals to Chad LeDuff of UC Santa Cruz. LeDuff is ranked second in the first ITA rankings, behind only Boris Sorkin of Tufts, who won the singles championship at the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia over LeDuff. 

Katzman ended last year ranked No. 3 by the ITA after reaching the finals of the NCAA Division III singles championship at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, before falling to Grant Urken of Bowdoin. Katzman has started out this season with a second-place finish to Urken at the ITA Grass Court Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, as well as the second-place finish at the ITA West Regionals to further bolster his resume. 

Sophomore Robert Liu also made the first ITA rankings for the Stags, coming in at No. 46 after reaching the quarterfinals of the ITA West Region Championships, where he also fell to LeDuff 6-4, 6-4.  

Junior Nikolai Parodi ended last season ranked No. 2 in the ITA Division III singles rankings, but did not participate in fall competition while studying abroad and is not eligible for the current rankings. His return in the spring will bolster a Stag lineup that will feature two of the top three singles players in the country at the end of last season.

In doubles, Katzman and senior Julian Gordy will enter the spring season ranked No. 12 nationally. The duo came within one point of winning the ITA West Regionals, but fell in a third-set tiebreaker to James Wei and Varun Shanker of Caltech, who are ranked No. 4. Emory's duo of Jonathan Jemison and Adrien Bouchet top the rankings after winning the ITA Cup in October. 

CMS will open its spring schedule on Feb. 23, when it hosts two matches at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center against Brandeis (10 a.m.) and Hope International (6 p.m.).