Tempe, AZ – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is happy to announce today, in partnership with the ATP Tour, the student-athletes who have qualified for the PIF ATP Next Gen Accelerator Program after another season filled with excitement and top-level talent on the court.
Composed of 23 athletes from 19 institutions, the 2026-27 class is poised to continue the success seen by past members of the PIF ATP Next Gen Accelerator, earning opportunities to fast track their professional careers through the ATP Challenger Tour.
Student-athletes earn qualification into this program by finishing in Top 20 of the Year-End ITA Singles Rankings or by reaching the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Singles Championship. For those players who have finished their time in college tennis are granted up to eight (8) Accelerator Spots at Challenger 50 and 75 tournaments, with opportunities split between main draw (for Top 10 ITA ranked players) and qualifying (11-20).
Across the 23 players in the 2026-27 class, seven (7) players were included in the 2025-26 Next Gen Accelerator class; Dylan Dietrich (Virginia), Jay Friend (Arizona), Michael Zheng (Columbia), Aidan Kim (Ohio State), Oliver Tarvet (San Diego), Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), and Ozan Baris (Michigan State).
Already seeing success on the ATP Tour, both Tarvet and Zheng have qualified for Grand Slam singles main draws in the past year, while Friend, Zheng, and Gabriel Debru (Illinois) have all won ATP Challenger Tour titles across their careers.
Looking at the current PIF ATP Singles Top 100, Rafa Jodar (Virginia ‘25, ATP No. 23), Ethan Quinn (Georgia ‘23, ATP No. 67), Eliot Spizzirri (Texas ‘23 & ‘24, ATP No. 95). Meanwhile, for accelerator program qualifiers Jack Pinnington Jones (TCU), Nishesh Basavareddy (Stanford), Arthur Fery (Stanford), Jacob Fearnley (TCU), and Toby Samuel (South Carolina) all sit within the Top 150 of the PIF ATP Singles Rankings.
Listed below are the 23 players who qualified for the 2026-27 PIF ATP Next Gen Accelerator Program through either ITA Year-End Singles Ranking or by reaching the NCAA Division I Tennis Singles Championship Quarterfinals.
Qualified Student-Athletes
No. 1 | Dylan Dietrich | University of Virginia | ITA Rank
No. 2 | Sebastian Gorzny | University of Texas | ITA Rank
No. 3 | Jay Friend | University of Arizona | ITA Rank
No. 4 | Trevor Svajda | SMU | NCAA Finish & ITA Rank
No. 5 | Paul Inchauspe | Princeton University | NCAA Finish & ITA Rank
No. 6 | Michael Zheng | Columbia University | NCAA Finish & ITA Rank
No. 7 | Duncan Chan | TCU | ITA Rank
No. 8 | Benito Sanchez Martinez | Mississippi State University | ITA Rank
No. 9 | Max Dahlin | University of Michigan | NCAA Finish & ITA Rank
No. 10 | Devin Badenhorst | Baylor University | ITA Rank
No. 11 | Petar Jovanovic | Mississippi State University | NCAA Finish & ITA Rank
No. 12 | Keegan Rice | University of Virginia | ITA Rank
No. 13 | Lucas Andrade da Silva | University of South Carolina | ITA Rank
No. 14 | Aidan Kim | Ohio State University | ITA Rank
No. 15 | Oliver Tarvet | University of San Diego | ITA Rank
No. 16 | Theo Papamalamis | Texas A&M University | ITA Rank
No. 17 | Kenta Miyoshi | University of Illinois | ITA Rank
No. 18 | Gabriel Debru | University of Illinois | ITA Rank
No. 19 | Matthew Forbes | Michigan State University | ITA Rank
No. 20 | Jakub Vrba | University of Arkansas | ITA Rank
The following players also earned qualification based on NCAA Singles Championship finish: Ozan Baris (Michigan State University), Martin Borisiouk (NC State University), and Luca Pow (Wake Forest University).
About The ATP – As the global governing body of men’s professional tennis, the ATP’s mission is to serve tennis. We entertain a billion global fans, showcase the world’s greatest players at the most prestigious tournaments, and inspire the next generation of fans and players. From the United Cup in Australia, to Europe, the Americas and Asia, the stars of the game battle for titles and Pepperstone ATP Rankings points at ATP Masters 1000, 500 and 250 events, and Grand Slams. All roads lead towards the Nitto ATP Finals, the prestigious season finale held in Turin, Italy. Featuring only the world’s top 8 qualified singles players and doubles teams, the tournament also sees the official crowning of the year-end ATP World No. 1, presented by Pepperstone, the ultimate achievement in tennis. For more information, please visit www.ATPTour.com.
About the ITA – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches association of college tennis, both an advocate and an authority for the sport and its members. Comprised of 1,260 colleges and universities, 20,000 student-athletes, 1,700 varsity programs, 3,000 coaches, and 1,350 college tennis officials, the ITA empowers college tennis coaches at all levels to deliver vibrant tennis programs that are vital to their college communities and transformational to their student-athletes. Follow the college tennis season on the ITA website and ITA social channels on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.