Derkas represents MW at 2018 ITA Oracle Masters

MALIBU, Calif. – Junior Zdenek Derkas will travel to compete in the Oracle ITA Masters. Derkas was selected to represent the Mountain West Conference in the prestigious tournament, he will play singles and mixed doubles. The tournament will begin on Thursday, Sept. 20 and finish on Sunday, Sept. 23.

This marks the first time a Fresno State player has been selected to represent the Mountain West on the men's side of the Oracle ITA Masters.

Now in its fourth year, the Oracle ITA Masters will be hosted by Pepperdine University and the Malibu Racquet Club. The annual event has established itself as one of the premier events on the collegiate tennis calendar.

The 2018 Oracle ITA Masters will again feature 32-player singles competitors per gender. Invitations were sent out to one man and one woman from each Division I Conference to participate. The Oracle ITA Masters men's and women's singles champions earn automatic entry into the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which will be held November 7-11, in Surprise, Arizona. A 32-team mixed-doubles event will also take place at the 2018 Oracle ITA Masters, with players from the same conference partnered up wherever possible.

How to follow – Fans can watch the live stream or follow along with live stats throughout the matches. Both links can be found on the men's tennis schedule page at Gobulldogs.com.

Derkas was selected to represent the MW after an impressive 2017-18 season. He finished the season with a team-best 28-8 (7-0 MW) overall singles record, playing primarily at the No. 3 position. The Czech Republic native clinched four matches for Fresno State during conference play and posted a win over No. 62 Ferran Calvo (Oklahoma). He finished the season with a 15-13 doubles record. Derkas was named to the 2018 All-Mountain West Singles Team, and was the team's 2018 MVP. In 2017, Derkas was the first Bulldog in program history to be named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year.

Singles Draw
Derkas face Stefan Milicevic of Minnesota in the first round on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. PT, the match will be held at Pepperdine.

A Look at Derkas' Opponent – Milicevic finished the 2017-18 season with an overall 22-9 (6-5 Big 10) singles record. The Belgrade, Serbia native played primarily at the No. 3 position for the Gophers. He won the 2017 ITA Central Regional, and defeated three ranked opponents throughout the year. During the 2016-17 season, Milicevic was named the ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year.

Mixed Doubles Draw
Derkas is paired with Miruna Vasilescu of Akron University. The duo will face No. 8 seed Nuez (UT Arlington) and Contreras (Vanderbilt) at 8 a.m. PT, the match will be held at Pepperdine.
A Look at Derkas' Partner – Vasilescu joined the Zips in Spring 2018. She finished the season with 17-5 (5-3 MAC) singles record, and a 4-0 doubles record. The Ulm, Germany native began the season as Akron's No. 6 singles player but finished the season as the No.1 singles player. Vasilescu was named the 2018 MAC Newcomer of the Year, second-team All-MAC and the team's MVP.

A Look at the Opposing Duo – Guanarteme Nuez of UT Arlington finished the 2017-18 season with an overall 25-7 singles record and a 12-3 doubles record. Nuez was named the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Player of the year, and was selected to the 2018 NCAA Singles Championship. He was First-Team All-Sun Belt in both singles and doubles.
Fernanda Contreras of Vanderbilt finished the 2017-18 season with an overall 21-5 (9-2 SEC) record and a 21-6 doubles record. Contreras was 2018 All-American, and was selected to the 2018 NCAA Championship in singles and doubles. She was a First Team All-SEC selection and the 2018 SEC Tournament MVP. Contreras lead the SEC in ITA rankings for the entire season, while earning a career-high No. 4 singles ranking. Vanderbilt was the 2018 SEC Champions and was the No. 1 seed in the 2018 NCAA Championship.

Men's Selections
Majed Kilani, Tulsa (American)
Jordan Benjamin, Dayton (Atlantic-10)
Mitch Harper, Virginia Tech (ACC)
Fermin Calvo Barcelo, Kennesaw State (Atlantic Sun)
Yuya Ito, Texas (Big 12)
Alvaro Verdu, Marquette (Big East)
Tim Handel, Northern Arizona (Big Sky)
Henry Patten, UNC Asheville (Big South)
Stefan Milicevic, Minnesota (Big Ten)
Nicolas Moreno de Alboran, UC Santa Barbara (Big West)
Felipe Sarrasgue, Elon (Colonial)
Aziz Kijametovic, Old Dominion (Conference USA)
Nico Mostardi, Cleveland State (Horizon League)
Sven Lah, Baylor (At-Large)
Zeke Clark, Illinois (At-Large)
Daniel Cukierman, USC (At-Large)
Aleks Kovacevic, Illinois (At-Large)
Adrian Oetzbach, Pepperdine (Host Wild Card)
Zdenek Derkas, Fresno State (Mountain West)
Matt Kuhar, Bryant (Northeast)
Hendrik Inno, Belmont (Ohio Valley)
Laurens Verboven, USC (Pac-12)
Christian Sigsgaard, Texas (At-Large)
Olivier Stuart, Mercer (Southern)
Gabriel Evans, UIW (Southland)
Ion Efrim, Alabama State (Southwestern)
Igor Kolaric, Illinois State (Summit League)
Guanarteme Nuez, UT Arlington (Sun Belt)
Andrew Ton, Navy (Patriot League)
August Holmgren, San Diego (West Coast)
Lorenzo Fucile, Grand Canyon (WAC)
Johannes Schretter, Baylor (Oracle Wild Card)

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Derkas represents MW at 2018 ITA Oracle Masters

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Zdenek Derkas

Fresno State Athletics