Twelve tennis teams are in the City of South Fulton this weekend for the 24th Annual Historically Black College and University National Tennis Championships.
The event is equivalent to college football’s spring game. Defending champion North Carolina Central University (women’s) and Tennessee State University (men’s) are back to face a few familiar opponents and some new ones.
NC Central’s men’s team received an invite to the NIT postseason tournament last year. They finished one game shy of the championship game, losing to eventual champion University of Tennessee-Chattanooga 4-3.
Competition began on Thursday and will run through Saturday, provided there are no delays. Semifinal matches are scheduled for Saturday morning. In the Men’s A singles, top-seeded Taj Hibbert (Tennessee State) defeated Yin Chih Lan (Alabama A&M) 61, 6-3 to set up a semifinal match against the third-seeded Michael Major, Jr from Howard University. On the other side of the bracket, fourth-ranked Nereo Suarez (Xavier – LA) and Milan Ristov advanced to the quarterfinals by winning tie-breakers in their opening matches. Once in the quarterfinals, Suarez eased past Ristov to reach the semifinals. He will play Alabama A&M’s Arnav Pathange.
Suarez reached the doubles semifinals with teammate Ivan Vazquez. They will face the tandem of Kareem Abdul Hakim and Leo Fortier-Gariepy of NC Central. Taj Hibbert will pull double duty Saturday, playing in the singles and doubles semifinals. He and teammate James Adler Germinal will face the NCCU tandem of Tim Kohl and Rodrigo Alves.
Top-seeded Paula Corbalan (Jackson State) advanced to the semis, defeating Tennessee State’s Sydney Brantley 6-4, 7-5. She will face the third-seed Franchesca Brown (Howard U) a 6-4,6-2 winner over Gabrielle Henderson (Alabama A&M).
The Tigers are the only team with two players in the semifinals. Victoria Linkovski will join Corbalan. The sixth seed defeated fourth-seeded Kesmat El Tawil (Alabama State). Perennial NAIA powerhouse XULA will also have Ana Sabikova (a seven seed) in the semifinals. She will face second-seeded Imani Jean (Howard U).
Sabikova, like her counterpart on the men’s team, will compete in the women’s doubles with teammate McKenna Wheatley. They will face the top-seeded team of Diana Craciun and Melisa Mekic from Alabama State. Jackson State’s Linkovski pairs with Helen Hernandez in a matchup with HU’s Brown and Dana Hall. Brown and Linkovski are on opposite sides of the bracket in the singles semifinals.
View the results and draws here
Photos from Thursday and Friday. All photos by Jason McDonald, JM Photography for CORE360 Sports