Men?s Tennis Heads To Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic

BOULDER ? The University of Colorado men's tennis team will take on some of the nation’s best teams at the Blue-Gray National Collegiate Tennis Classic at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery, Alabama this Thursday, March 16 through Sunday, March 19. The Buffaloes will compete against 18 other teams from around the country, which include Top 20 teams No. 12 Louisville, No. 20 Notre Dame, and fellow Big 12 opponent No. 37 Texas Tech. At last year’s Blue-Gray, CU had its biggest win of the 2004-05 season, upsetting then No. 15 Harvard, 4-3 in their second match.

"It really helps Colorado's schedule as we get to play great teams at a neutral site,” head coach Sam Winterbotham said about the upcoming tournament. ”It also gets the team in a championship mindset. They are playing for hardware. It is always exciting to compete for championships, and at the heart of every competitor lies the desire to win trophies and be crowned the best. It reminds the guys why they train so hard, why they push themselves and their teammates. The more our program can provide this environment for the guys the better their CU experience will be. The Blue-Gray is a special event that this team really wants to win.”

Currently, the Buffaloes head to Alabama riding a four-game winning streak and are ranked No. 38 in the latest FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. The No. 38 ranking is the highest in 10 years after finishing the 1996-97 season No. 35. This season, the Buffaloes started the spring season with a four-game winning streak, beating regional opponents BYU, Utah (twice), and Montana State. CU is now 8-3 on the season, their best start since the 2001-02 season, when the Buffs were 7-4 through their first 11 matches.

Two players from the squad are also ranked in the singles poll as well. Junior Peter Bjork, who has won eight out of his past ten matches, comes in at No. 96, while junior Jan Zelezny, seeking his 15^th win of the overall season, ranks No. 111 in the country.

For nearly 60 years, some of the finest tennis players in the world have come to Montgomery in early spring to do battle. In 1949, Jack Bushman, a Montgomery resident, was the President of the Southern Lawn Tennis Association. He wanted to tie-in a world-class tennis tournament to the prestigious Blue-Gray football classic. He envisioned starting an event similar to the world-renowned Sugar Bowl junior tennis tournament that is played in conjunction with the Sugar Bowl football game. However, he decided the tournament should feature top college players rather than juniors.

For the first 30 years, the Blue-Gray tournament was an individual contest rather than the present day team competition. During this time of individual competition, many of the finest college players in the country came to Montgomery to play the Blue Gray. Many of these players went on to become some of the top professional players in the world. A brief list of names would include: Stan Smith, Tony Trabert, Barry McKay, Chuck McKinley, Charlie Pasarell, Tim and Tom Gullickson, Kevin Curren, Steve Denton and Vince Van Patten.

In 1983, Mr. Bushman went to the NCAA Championships and approached top college coaches about the possibility of changing the event to a team competition. The coaches liked the idea of playing in a team tournament to prepare them for the season ending NCAA team championships. Thus, the tournament was reborn as a team event and remains so today.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the Blue Gray is the southern hospitality it offers. Tennis fans across Montgomery open up their homes and keep the players throughout the tournament. Life long friendships have developed between players and host families.

In all, there have been seven Grand Slam (Wimbledon, U.S. Open, French Open and Australian Open) single finalists and over thirty Grand Slam double champions that can trace their careers back to Montgomery and the Blue Gray.

It is a unanimous consensus among college coaches that the Blue-Gray National Collegiate Tennis Classic is one of the top tennis events in the country. In fact, Alabama Governor Bob Riley declared the week of the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic as "Official Tennis Week" for Alabama.

Winterbotham and CU are very excited about attending their third Blue-Gray tournament.

"The Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic is one of the most prestigious events in college tennis. It has an amazing history and we are privileged to be invited. The great thing about the tournament is it is run by the community of Montgomery and not by a university. This brings a great deal of energy and a special feeling of importance to the tournament. The community spends so much time, effort, and money bringing teams from all over the nation to compete and be part of a fantastic event. It feels like the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament...and that's great practice for a team with those aspirations."

For more information on the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic visit the web site at www.bluegraytennis.com.

Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic Participants (ranking in parenthesis):

Alabama (50)

Auburn-Montgomery

Boise State (32)

Brown (53)

COLORADO (38)

Fresno State (56)

Furman (63)

Louisville (12)

Middle Tennessee State (36)

Mississippi State (44)