NCAA men’s singles champion Ethan Quinn is among 21 college players who will benefit from direct entry into ATP Challenger Tour main draw and qualifying fields as part of the new Accelerator Programme, a joint initiative between ATP and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
The programme was developed to increase the development pathway for top players in the American Collegiate system. Following the NCAA championships last month at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona/Orlando in Florida, it was announced that 21 players would benefit from the Accelerator Programme.
Players ranked in the Top 20 of the ITA final singles rankings who have finished their education are granted up to eight Accelerator Spots at Challenger 50 and 75 tournaments, with opportunities split between main draw (for Top 10 ITA ranked players) and qualifying (11-20). Players who reach the quarter-finals or better of the individual NCAA Division I Tennis Championships also qualify for the Accelerator Programme if not already eligible via their ITA ranking. These opportunities are available from 1 July for a period of 12 months.
Players who continue their education and qualify for the programme will receive six opportunities over six months (July–December), enabling them to benefit from the programme during their college off-season and parts of their fall season.
Accelerator Programme Qualifiers
Player
College
Eliot Spizzirri
Texas
Ethan Quinn
Georgia
Arthur Fery
Stanford
Ondrej Styler
Michigan
Chris Rodesch
Virginia
Johannus Monday
Tennessee
Melios Efstathiou
Wake Forest
Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc
Florida State
Andres Martin
Georgia Tech
Toby Samuel
South Carolina
Liam Draxl
Kentucky
Cannon Kingsley
Ohio State
Murphy Cassone
Arizona State
Andrew Fenty
Michigan
Sebastian Dominko
Notre Dame
Nishesh Basavareddy
Stanford
Connor Thomson
South Carolina
Garrett Johns
Duke
Jake Fearnley
TCU
Alafia Ayeni
Kentucky
Alexander Bernard
Ohio State