University of San Francisco Athletics

2014 ITA National/Regional Award Winners | Video highlights of Saraiva's 2014 season

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco junior, Bernardo Saraiva, has been tapped as the Player to Watch out of the Northwest Region, as selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
 
The regional Player to Watch award, is the first-ever for a Don, and the first for a West Coast Conference player since its inception in 2001. The ITA selection committee, comprised of coaches throughout the region, votes on deserving candidates based on the previous season's body of work.
 
"I think it is great to have Bernardo acknowledged by other regional coaches in this capacity," USF director of tennis Peter Bartlett said. "He has put in tremendous work since his freshman season and continues to get better each year. We look forward to him next year capitalizing on some of the great early opportunities in the fall tournaments and continuing to being a strong NCAA-caliber player his senior season. I think he will definitely be a player to watch next season in the WCC and at the national level."
 
Hailing from Lisbon, Portugal, Saraiva was tapped as an All-WCC First Team Singles selection and picked up second-team doubles honors with partner Nils Skajaa in 2014.
 
Saraiva concluded the 2014 season as USF's No. 1 singles player and finished the spring slate with a 19-7 record. He notched high-profile wins over No. 49 Clarke Spinosa of San Diego and No. 60 Facundo Lugones of TCU. Saraiva and Skajaa concluded the doubles season winning seven of their last eight matches and a 14-8 dual match record.
 
"Bernardo has worked very hard and we believe that he is deserving of this award because of his competitive spirit," head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida said. "Bernardo continues to improve and earns his success through being a consistently positive person daily on and off the court. We look forward to Bernardo reaching his goals that are set for next year and thank the other coaches who voted for him for recognizing his potential."
 
Of the 12 regional winners in 2014, nine were selected to the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championship, and one third of this year's bracket has been named a regional Player to Watch during their collegiate career. In fact, Marcos Girdon of UCLA, the 2013 Player to Watch from the Southwest Region, was seeded No. 2 in the bracket and went on to claim the 2014 individual title.
 
Mikelis Libietis, a 2013 national Player to Watch from Tennessee, earned the national title in doubles play alongside Hunter Reese, as former ITA Player to Watch honorees took home two 2014 national championship titles. In the team competition, Southern California reigned supreme, with two regional Players to Watch on the squad, bringing the total to four.