Alvarez Earns At-Large Bid to USTA/ITA Indoors

DURHAM, N.C. – Junior Nicolas Alvarez has received an at-large bid to November's USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship in Flushing, N.Y. Only 32 singles players will compete in the prestigious event at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center from November 3-6.

Alvarez has been invited to the event for three straight years, joining Henrique Cunha as the only Duke players to go three consecutive times.

“This is the toughest college tournament to get into, by far,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “It's so exclusive and hard to make. You have to make quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships, win your regional or get one of the six at-large spots, which is what Nico did. He's very motivated for this tournament. It's the best players and it's the best players who are playing the best right now, which makes it such a tough tournament. It's kind of a reward at the end of the fall for the players who are playing the best. I'm excited for him to go.”

Alvarez, who was ranked No. 14 in the preseason Oracle/ITA ledger, has gone 5-3 this fall with three matches coming against nationally-ranked opponents. He began his fall campaign with a pair of tough losses before rebounding with a 5-1 run through the ITA Carolina Regional field, advancing to the semifinals of the event.

At the regional, Alvarez claimed three consecutive straight set wins against Presbyterian's Joel Roberts, UNC Greensboro's Connor Thompson and N.C. State's Igor Saveljic before a comeback 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory versus South Carolina's Yancy Davis in the Round of 16. Alvarez fought through a 7-6 (10), 6-4 battle with Wake Forest's Christian Seraphim to advance to the semifinals, where Alvarez fell 7-6 (4), 6-2 to No. 7 Skander Mansouri of Wake Forest.

“I feel like Nico has made some big jumps in the last few weeks,” Smith added. “He played in the Lima Challenger earlier this week and played a top-100 ATP player, ultimately losing in three sets. For him to go to this tournament all three years is really, really tough to do. I want him to go out there, stick to his game plan and enjoy the experience. He's playing at a level where he has just as good of a chance as anybody to make a run.”

Before playing a match for Duke this fall, Alvarez helped his native country of Peru to a 3-2 victory against Venezuela in the championship match of the Davis Cup Group II Americas tournament in mid-September. Alvarez clinched the deciding point with a comeback 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory against Luis David Martinez.

The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships serves as the culmination of the fall season.

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Alvarez Earns At-Large Bid to USTA/ITA Indoors

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Nicolas Alvarez

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Alvarez Earns At-Large Bid to USTA/ITA Indoors

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Nicolas Alvarez

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