Nation’s top college tennis players coming to Manatee. You can watch them play for free
The 2019 Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Tennis Tournament, now in its eighth year, is scheduled to start Friday and run through Sunday at the Tennis Center at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, 8488 Legacy Blvd., Lakewood Ranch.
This is the only clay-court event on the ITA/NCAA calendar.
The tourney features 24 Division I colleges, including Florida, Michigan, Baylor, Princeton, Florida State, South Florida, Central Florida, Boston College, The Naval Academy, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and more.
Men’s and women’s singles and doubles are planned. The format is a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to approximately 4-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free and open to the public.
The tournament is an annual event organized and run by Chris Marquez and Paul Lederman from the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, and has become one of the premier collegiate tennis events in the country.
“We are so proud to host our 10th annual clay court classic,” Lederman, who is the director of the Lakewood Ranch Athletic Center, said in a press release.
“The member support and community involvement are like no other. What a great experience for the players to be in this event — which the top college coaches say is the best college fall event in the country — and for the community to have a chance to see all these incredible players.”
Proceeds benefit the V Foundation Cancer Research, a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find the cures for all cancers, including pediatric cancer.
For more information, visit lakewoodranchgolf.com/tennis.
