Eli Stephenson Qualifies to Main Draw at ITA All-American Championships

TULSA, Okla. – After successfully working his way through two qualifying draws and winning five matches in four days, junior Eli Stephenson has qualified for the main draw at the ITA All-American Championships in his tournament debut. The Louisville native will join teammates No. 28 Jack Loutit and No. 29 Antoine Ghibaudo, who earned direct entry into the main draw, in Wednesday’s Round of 64.

After taking out a pair of seeds in his final two rounds of pre-qualifying, Stephenson faced seeded players in both of his qualifying rounds. The junior captain would ultimately breeze through both matches without dropping a set, defeating [17] Tiago Silva of California, 6-4, 6-2, in the opening round and knocking off [16] Roger Pascual of TCU, 7-6, 6-1, in the final round. Silva (No. 104) and Pascual (No. 88) both entered the tournament ranked in the ITA Preseason Singles Rankings, marking the first two ranked singles wins for Stephenson since his first two collegiate matches in September 2023.

Two more Cats were also entered in the qualifying singles draw in Charlelie Cosnet and Nicolas Arseneault. Cosnet, who also entered from pre-qualifying, lost his opening round match in straight sets before rebounding with a straight-sets, consolation victory over Timofey Stepanov of California. Arsenault, making his collegiate singles debut, won the opening set in both of his matches, but ultimately fell in three sets in both the opening round and consolation round.

In doubles, the team of Matt Rankin and Nicolas Arseneault was unable to continue their tournament run after advancing out of pre-qualifying, falling to No. 8 seed and ITA No. 46 Eriksson and Ojakaar of Texas in straight sets. 2025 ITA All-Americans and preseason No. 37 Stephenson and Loutit fell in their first match of the season, losing to South Carolina’s Daryabeigi and Andrade in straight sets.

The marquee event of the tournament, the main draw, will kick off September 24 and run until the conclusion of the tournament on September 28. 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams will fight for one of the most prestigious individual titles in college tennis, as well as spots at the 2025 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in Orlando, Fla. this November.

Qualification to NCAAs will be available to 10 singles players—the eight main draw singles quarterfinals and two consolation bracket finalists— and four doubles teams—the four main draw semifinalists. Athletes will also have the opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships at ITA Regional, ITA Sectional, and ITA Conference Masters tournaments throughout the fall.

Qualifying Results

Monday, September 22

Singles

R1 – Eli Stephenson (Kentucky) def. [17] No. 104 Tiago Silva (California) 6-4, 6-2

R1 – [17] No. 100 Andrew Delgado (Wake Forest) def. Charlelie Cosnet (Kentucky) 6-1, 6-1

R1 – Romain Gales (Clemson) def. [13] No. 82 Nicolas Arseneault (Kentucky) 4-6, 7-6, 7-5

Doubles

R1 – [8] No. 46 Eriksson/Ojakaar (Texas) def. No. 83 Rankin/N. Arseneault (Kentucky) 6-4, 7-5

R1 – Daryabeigi/Andrade (South Carolina) def. [3] No. 37 Stephenson/Loutit (Kentucky) 7-5, 6-4

Tuesday, September 23

Singles

R2 – Eli Stephenson (Kentucky) def. [16] No. 88 Roger Pascual (TCU) 7-6, 6-1

Cons. – Charlelie Cosnet (Kentucky) def. Timofey Stepanov (California) 6-4, 6-4

Cons. – No. 107 Orel Kimhi (Oklahoma) def. No. 82 Nicolas Arseneault (Kentucky) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1

Pre-Qualifying Results

Saturday, September 20

Singles

R1 – Martin Breysach (Kentucky) def. Oskar Jansson (Arizona) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5

R1 – Charlelie Cosnet (Kentucky) def. Leo Linquet (Nebraska) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3

R1 – Mikael Arseneault (Kentucky) def. Calum Jestin (Tulsa) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1

R1 – Wil Jenkins (NJIT) def. [14] Matt Rankin (Kentucky) 1-6, 7-6, 4-0 (ret.)

R1 – Eli Stephenson (Kentucky) def. Alejandro Jacome (Wichita State) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles

R1 – [1] No. 83 Rankin/N. Arseneault (Kentucky) def. Wright/Jones (North Carolina) 6-4, 7-5

Sunday, September 21

Singles

R2 – Evan Burnett (Texas) def. Martin Breysach (Kentucky) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1

R2 – Charlelie Cosnet (Kentucky) def. [11] Chris Xu (North Carolina) 6-4, 6-2

R2 – Eli Stephenson (Kentucky) def. [21] Ondrej Horak (MTSU) 6-3, 6-0

R2 – Mikael Arseneault (Kentucky) def. [1] Filip Gustafsson (Arizona) 7-6, 6-3

R3 – Eli Stephenson (Kentucky) def. [16] Niels Ratiu (North Carolina) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

R3 – Charlelie Cosnet (Kentucky) def. Lincoln Battle (Cleveland State) 6-3, 6-7, 7-6

R3 – [21] Gabriele Vulpitta (Georgia) def. Mikael Arseneault (Kentucky) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

Doubles

R2 – [1] No. 83 Rankin/N. Arseneault (Kentucky) def. [9] Kalina/Kriznik (Alabama) 6-7, 6-4, [10-8]

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