University of North Carolina Athletics
Benjamin Sigouin and Rinky Hijikata
Another Tough Men's Tennis Schedule In 2021
January 8, 2021 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL—The University of North Carolina men's tennis team's schedule is once again one of the most challenging and exciting in the nation, as head coach Sam Paul's 28th Tar Heel team is poised to enter the spring with one of the nation's top rosters for the 2021 season.
Carolina will begin its team indoor season on January 24-25 when it hosts a regional in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
UNC will meet Northwestern in the first round on the 24th, then face either Duke or South Carolina on the 25th. If the Tar Heels pick up two wins that weekend and advance, the ITA Indoor National Championship will be held in Champaign, Ill., on Feb. 12-14.
"As usual, we've got an extremely tough schedule this year, both in terms of the ACC and our non-conference slate," Paul says. "The ITA Kickoff includes three really good teams in Northwestern, Duke and South Carolina. Those are all talented, well-coached, NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. We've definitely got one of the toughest regionals in the country to start the season. The ACC is solid every year and should be again this spring. We're all just so excited to get out there as a team again."
Boasting five returning All-Americas in William Blumberg, Brian Cernoch, Mac Kiger, Simon Soendergaard and Benjamin Sigouin, as well as returning stalwarts Josh Peck and Rinky Hijikata, the Tar Heels have all six singles starters and its top three doubles teams back from last year's team that was ranked No. 2 in the nation when the Covid-19 virus ended the season prematurely. Blumberg, Peck and Soendergaard all elected to take advantage of the NCAA's one-time eligibility waiver and return to UNC for a fifth year of college competition.
Blumberg is just one of three eight-time All-Americas in men's Intercollegiate Tennis Administration history. Other returning 2020 All-Americas include the doubles team of Kiger and Soendergaard and the doubles team of Blumberg and Cernoch.  Sigouin earned All-America honors in singles in 2019, and Hijikata's background as a top amateur singles player from Australia has earned him mention as a possible future All-America.
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Carolina players earned five All-America honors in 2019-20 from the ITA, tying as the highest figure of any program in the nation last spring.Â
"We're so happy our fifth-year seniors are back," Paul says. "This group is happy to be back together after being out of competition for so long. We recognize it took a lot of effort from a lot of people behind the scenes to put together this schedule and a plan to allow this season to happen. We thank everyone. Our guys and our staff are thrilled to compete on the court together again, especially after not competing in the Fall."Â
Carolina will begin its team indoor season on January 24-25 when it hosts a regional in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
UNC will meet Northwestern in the first round on the 24th, then face either Duke or South Carolina on the 25th. If the Tar Heels pick up two wins that weekend and advance, the ITA Indoor National Championship will be held in Champaign, Ill., on Feb. 12-14.
"As usual, we've got an extremely tough schedule this year, both in terms of the ACC and our non-conference slate," Paul says. "The ITA Kickoff includes three really good teams in Northwestern, Duke and South Carolina. Those are all talented, well-coached, NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. We've definitely got one of the toughest regionals in the country to start the season. The ACC is solid every year and should be again this spring. We're all just so excited to get out there as a team again."
Boasting five returning All-Americas in William Blumberg, Brian Cernoch, Mac Kiger, Simon Soendergaard and Benjamin Sigouin, as well as returning stalwarts Josh Peck and Rinky Hijikata, the Tar Heels have all six singles starters and its top three doubles teams back from last year's team that was ranked No. 2 in the nation when the Covid-19 virus ended the season prematurely. Blumberg, Peck and Soendergaard all elected to take advantage of the NCAA's one-time eligibility waiver and return to UNC for a fifth year of college competition.
Blumberg is just one of three eight-time All-Americas in men's Intercollegiate Tennis Administration history. Other returning 2020 All-Americas include the doubles team of Kiger and Soendergaard and the doubles team of Blumberg and Cernoch.  Sigouin earned All-America honors in singles in 2019, and Hijikata's background as a top amateur singles player from Australia has earned him mention as a possible future All-America.
Â
Carolina players earned five All-America honors in 2019-20 from the ITA, tying as the highest figure of any program in the nation last spring.Â
"We're so happy our fifth-year seniors are back," Paul says. "This group is happy to be back together after being out of competition for so long. We recognize it took a lot of effort from a lot of people behind the scenes to put together this schedule and a plan to allow this season to happen. We thank everyone. Our guys and our staff are thrilled to compete on the court together again, especially after not competing in the Fall."Â
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