The ASU men's tennis team began its season more than two weeks ago with the start of practice but what it's been preparing for is almost here.
But for the top two Sun Devil players, senior Juan Carlos Rebaza and sophomore Matt Brooklyn, the new year is getting underway a bit earlier.
Rebaza, the team's lone senior, left Tuesday morning for the All-America Championships held in Tulsa, Okla., this week through Sunday.
He will begin singles matches Thursday, after qualifying for the event because of his national ranking with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
But Rebaza just made it, as only the top 48 players are given exemptions.
He sits at No. 47 overall.
The remaining 16 players in the 64-player tournament must qualify to play in the main tournament and that's just what Brooklyn was aiming to do earlier this week.
The native of England won his first round match Monday, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 against LSU's Colt Gaston.
Brooklyn then lost in the second round Tuesday to Boise State's Kean Feeder, 6-4, 6-4, thus ending his run.
The rest of the team is participating in this weekend's University of California-Irvine Invitational in Riverside, Calif., which will give coach Lou Belken his first chance to evaluate this season's squad.
The Sun Devils have seven returning players and just one freshman.
In its first tournament, ASU will face Portland on Friday, UC-Irvine Saturday and UC-Riverside on Sunday.
Early on, Rebaza is confident that his teammates will realize their potential come season's end.
"I don't want to say we'll be in the top 20 or 10," Rebaza said. "But with the players we have and the players we're getting, we have a chance to be good."
Reach the reporter at: apentis@asu.edu.
