Texas continued its dominance this fall at the ITA Texas Regional Championships over the last week, where the Longhorns earned titles in both the singles and doubles tournaments.
In the singles title match, it was top seeded Christian Sigsgaard, who took home the trophy against his fellow Longhorn teammate, second-seeded Yuya Ito.
Sigsgaard would then continue his stellar day with a second title win alongside senior Harrison Scott in the doubles finals against Texas Tech’s Bjorn Thompson and Parker Wynn.
“I think it was exciting to win both, but the best part of it is I thought we competed well throughout the whole tournament,” head coach Michael Center said. “I thought the guys who were playing the best were Christian and Yuya, and sometimes that means you don’t get to the final, but I thought they really showed up and did a great job from start to finish.”
For Ito and Sigsgaard, both rolled through their competition with little resistance all the way up until the finals. Center was very impressed with the way both men showed great talent and heart in the finals with the last point closing off the weekend as the rally went on for an impressive 20-25 shots to secure a win for Sigsgaard.
“I was happy we both got through and got to play each other,” Ito said. “Being in the same year, we have a little friendly rivalry, and being friends and rivals at the same time, it was fun playing against Christian today.”
Throughout the fall, Sigsgaard has been a lock to make it far in these tournaments. In each tournament he has been involved in, Sigsgaard has either made it to the semifinals or better and now has a total of three championships to his name.
“I think I carried some of the momentum in my game from (ITA) All-Americans and it was great getting more matches in,” Sigsgaard said. “I feel like I’m being more aggressive throughout the whole match, staying on top of the baseline, serving well and being able to come in and put away some overheads.”
Winning the titles was not the only major accomplishment of the weekend as all Sigsgaard, Ito and Scott all qualified for the Oracle ITA Fall Championships. The three Texas athletes will return to the court in Surprise, Ariz., on Nov. 7.
“It will be a great opportunity,” Center said. “It’s always fun to go to those tournaments, but it’s always more enjoyable when you can go with your teammates. They make those tournaments exciting and you get the best players in the country there, so it’s a great reward and a great way to finish off the fall portion of the collegiate season.”
