Kigongo and Trinidad Victorious at National Clay Court Championships
10/12/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 12, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Francisco Trinidad (Mexico City, Mex.) and Ken Kigongo (Bradenton, Fla.) have their eyes set on the doubles competition. That doesn?t mean that they are looking past their singles action. The Michigan State seniors were both victorious on Tuesday in their opening Qualifying Draw singles matches at the Reebok/ITA National Clay Court Championships, in Austin, Texas.
Trinidad defeated Gustavo Gomez of East Tennesee State 6-3, 6-3. He now moves on to face Chris Sands of UCLA. Kigongo beat UAB?s Tom Dalby 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and now plays Marc Legris of New Mexico State. The winners move on to the October 14-18 Main Draw. Kigongo and Trinidad will team up to compete in the doubles competition beginning on Friday, October 15. The doubles team returns as the Spartans? top tandem and is currently ranked 12th in the nation. They received an automatic berth into the main draw.
The Reebok/ITA All-American Championships have been played annually since 1979. A number of its past participants have enjoyed successful professional tennis careers, including this year?s U.S. Open finalist and Lansing native Todd Martin. This is the ninth straight year that the second leg of the ITA Grand Slam is taking place at the University of Texas. It is the largest NCAA Division I tennis tournament in the country. The ITA Grand Slam also includes the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships, the Rolex National Indoor Championships and NCAA Championships.
MSU has its first home action of the season starting this Friday through Sunday when it hosts the Advantage Spartans Invitational. Competing in the tournament will be DePaul, Louisville, Illinois State, Western Michigan, and Big Ten-rival Iowa. All matches will take place at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. In case of inclement weather play will be moved to the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. Michigan State will also host this year?s Big Ten Indoor Championships, January 15-17.
Singles Results 10/12/99 W Francisco Trinidad (MSU) def. Gustavo Gomez (ETSU) 6-3, 6-3 W Ken Kigongo (MSU) def. Tom Dalby (UAB) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
