A group of four players from the Arizona men’s tennis team is off to Tulsa, Okla. this weekend to compete in the ITA All-American Championships at the Michael D. Chase Tennis Center. The tournament starts this Saturday and concludes with the championship matches taking place on Sunday, Oct. 7.

Arizona will send Andre Vidaller, Mario Urquidi, Giacomo Miccini and Sumeet Shinde to play in the Wildcats’ most prestigious tournament of the fall.

“It’s our goal to get as many wins as we can this weekend,” Shinde said. “We have been working on the difficulties we endured at last week’s New Mexico State tournament and built off of those to be better prepared.”

Two of the players that participated in last week’s tournament will travel to Tulsa.

“Our guys have been working on and off the court, and I expect great things from them,” head coach Tad Berkowitz said. “The guys who played last week got valuable match experience, which they look to use to their advantage.”

The tournament is set up to weed out the weaker teams. The pre-qualifying singles will consist of 256 players who are put through tough competition and must win four matches to advance to qualifying singles, in which only 112 players compete.

“You can’t have a bad day during this tournament,” Shinde explains. “You have to be on top of your game everyday because it’s a knock off tournament, and if you lose one game you’re out.”

After the selection of the qualifying singles, the main draw comes down to the best 48 remaining.

“This tournament is the toughest one in the fall,” Urquidi said.

“All the best players in the country will be there.”

Arizona has been practicing hard in preparation for this tournament.

“Staying strong mentally, especially when the match isn’t going your way, will be crucial to having success this weekend,” Urquidi said. “I am looking forward to competing against the best players in the country.”

Doubles in the tournament will work similarly. The qualifying doubles will start with 64 teams who must win three matches in order to move on to the main draw, which consists of 24 duos.

“I am really looking forward to playing this weekend,” Shinde said. “I want to do the best I can. My strategy is to take it one match at a time and see how it goes.”