Posted with permission, article and pictures, courtesy of University of Hawaii Manoa

SAN FRANCISCO—University of Hawai’i men’s tennis players Andre Ilagan and Axel Labrunie will open their 2022 Fall season in the Battle in the Bay Classic. The two Rainbow Warriors will compete in the four-day tourney from Thursday, Sept. 22 – Sunday, Sept. 25. The elite tourney is hosted by the California Tennis Club in San Francisco, Calif..  Ilagan, who became the most decorated UH men’s tennis player last year, ended his season at the NCAA Singles Championships in Champaign, Ill.. He enters his senior campaign ranked at No. 24 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s 2022 Pre-season Poll.

The elite tournament features the top players from TCU, California, Michigan, Arizona, Stanford, Arizona State, USF, Pepperdine, Oklahoma, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego, USC and more. Ilagan and Labrunie will be representing Hawai’i and competing in both the singles and doubles main draw. The men’s side of the tournament are playing for two wild car entries into the singles main draw of the Tiburon Challenger and the Fairfield Challenger. 

In last year’s Battle in the Bay Classic, Labrunie fell in the singles qualifying round, while Ilagan advanced to the Main Draw’s Round of 16 where he fell to in a hard fought two sets.  In doubles, the UH duo fell in their opener by a break.