Three Bruins Listed in Preseason Men's Tennis Rankings

TEMPE, Ariz. – Rising junior Drew Baird, incoming freshman Alexander Hoogmartens and rising senior Patrick Zahraj were listed in the ITA preseason rankings, announced Tuesday by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Baird was slotted at No. 118 in the singles rankings. Baird and Zahraj, meanwhile, enter the 2021-22 season as the No. 52 doubles tandem. Hoogmartens made his ITA rankings debut as the No.-4 newcomer.

Baird, an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection after the 2021 dual-match campaign, turned in a 9-8 singles record and a 9-6 doubles mark during his sophomore season. He reached a career-best No. 57 in the ITA singles rankings, aided in part by his win versus No. 19 Riley Smith of USC. The combination of Baird and partner Govind Nanda, which finished a season-high No. 46 in the doubles rankings, beat the No.-5 duo of Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith of USC.

Zahraj notched a singles win and three doubles triumphs in 2021 dual matches. He clinched doubles points with Bryce Pereira, versus Corrado Summaria and Tim Zeitvogel of Pepperdine, and Keegan Smith, against Kai Brady and Stefano Tsorotiotis of UC Santa Barbara.

Hoogmartens, a native of Brussels, Belgium, notched a career-high ITF junior ranking of 37. He reached the singles second round and the doubles second round at the 2020 Australian Open Junior Championships. Hoogmartens also reached the Boys' singles second round at Roland-Garros in 2020. He also captured the doubles crown with partner Jeffrey von Der Schulenburg at the 2019 Eddie Herr International Championships.

Monday, the ITA released the field for the ITA Men's All-American Championships, set for Oct. 2-10 in Tulsa, Okla. Baird and Hoogmartens take part in singles qualifying. The prequalifying singles participants include rising seniors Zahraj, Roscoe Bellamy, Eric Hahn and Max Wild, returning senior Bryce Pereira, rising sophomore Stefan Leustian and incoming freshman Karl Lee.