NCAA Singles Championships Await Dominik Koepfer
May 19, 2015 | Men's Tennis
WACO, Texas -- After waiting a month since his last collegiate match, Tulane men's tennis player Dominik Koepfer will return to action via the national stage this week when he competes in the NCAA Singles Championships in Waco, Texas. Seeded No. 9-16 in the 64-player bracket, Koepfer will begin his postseason run on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. CT vs. Auburn's Lukas Ollert.
"It is a great honor that he's been invited to play in the tournament," Tulane head coach Mark Booras said. "He's worked so hard all three years he's been here. If you look at his stats this year, he's been tremendous, just losing three matches this spring. It's been really great to watch him grow as a player, but also as a person."
Ranked as high as fifth nationally in 2015, Koepfer was the American Athletic Conference's automatic qualifier for the singles championships with his 16-3 dual record and 27-6 mark overall. The junior will also bring his season best nine match winning streak heading into the tournament as well.
Koepfer went 12-6 against ranked opposition this year, but more impressively, 3-1 against those ranked in the top-11, including USC's Yannick Hanfmann, who is also seeded No. 9-16 and in Koepfer's fourth of the bracket.
In the two major national tournaments this past fall (ITA All-Americans and ITA National Indoors), Koepfer reached at least the quarterfinal rounds in both, a feat just two other players in the country accomplished.
"The last two weeks, he's been training just about twice a day, every day, on the courts and in the weight room," Booras added. "He's very motivated to do well at the NCAA's. Putting those two major fall national tournaments in perspective, he knows he can make a run for the title."
All times listed on the bracket are in central time and as long as the weather permits outdoor play, there will be live streams and stats available, found at the NCAA Tennis Championships Central page here: http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/w-tennis/2015ncaa.html
"This is just a great chance to wrap up the year and finish strong against the best players in the country," Koepfer stated. "The two tournaments I played in last fall really showed me that everyone is at the same level, but you got to stay in it mentally to compete against those players and beat them."
Players Mentioned
