2017-18 Tennis Season Opens With Five Returning Trojans Nationally Ranked

As the USC men's tennis team starts up fall action, there are five returning Trojans locked in the preseason Oracle/ITA national rankings and one newcomer on the national radar. As a team, USC wrapped up last season ranked No. 6 in the nation with a trio of Trojans sitting nationally ranked in singles and two ranked doubles teams. This year, two more Trojans have joined the rankings party with their first preseason rankings of their careers.

Now a veteran in the nation's top-25, ITA All-American sophomore Brandon Holt leads the pack. USC's winningest player as a freshman last season, Holt opens his sophomore campaign ranked No. 11 in the nation in singles. Meanwhile, he and trusty doubles partner Riley Smith have cracked the top-10, sitting as the nation's No. 6 doubles pair. Smith also has hit own spot in the national singles ranking, slotted at No. 120 to open his sophomore season. It's the first appearance in the ITA national singles rankings for Smith, who compiled a 25-7 singles record last season.

Junior Jack Jaede, meanwhile, is enjoying the highest singles ranking of his USC career, standing at No. 82 in the nation as he enters this 2017-18 season. Jaede, who earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention last year and posted a 24-8 mark in singles, earned a No. 119 ranking in February of last season, making this upgrade to No. 82 a big move for the Aussie Trojan. Jaede is sandwiched between two other ranked teammates — junior Logan Smith at No. 54 and senior Thibault Forget at No. 96. Logan Smith trimmed a good 40 spots off his final ranking from last season, where he was an All-Pac-12 Second Team pick after collecting a 23-13 singles record. For senior Forget, his No. 96 ranking puts him in reach of climbing last his previous career best of No. 85, enjoyed back in September 2016.

Also on the ITA preseason radar is incoming Trojan Daniel Cukierman. The Israel native enters his first season as a Trojan ranked as the No. 3 newcomer/freshman in the nation.

The 2017-18 Trojans are engaged in individual action around the country this fall. Five Trojans competed in qualifying at the USA F30 Futures event in Claremont, with ITF main draw action on tap for Jaede and Laurens Verboven after the pair both worked their ways through qualifying rounds. This weekend, four Trojans are tapped for duty at the Napa Challenge, where Jaede, Forget, Tanner Smith and newcomer Mateusz Smolicki will get their first official collegiate competition of 2017-18. The Trojans will combine some ITF Futures events with collegiate tournaments throughout the fall.

USC in the Oracle/ITA Preseason National Rankings

SINGLES

#11 Brandon Holt

#54 Logan Smith

#82 Jack Jaede

#96 Thibault Forget

#120 Riley Smith

DOUBLES

#6 Brandon Holt / Riley Smith

NEWCOMER/FRESHMAN

#3 Daniel Cukierman