Men’s Tennis to Start Fall Season at Duke James Bonk Invite

Tournament Website

Tournament Draws

The Liberty men’s tennis team will open its fall 2021 slate at the Duke James Bonk Invite, Friday through Sunday.

The three-day event will begin on Friday morning at 10 a.m. at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. Liberty’s Goncalo Ferreira, Deji Thomas-Smith and Josh Wilson will be making their 2021-22 season debuts this weekend.

This is Liberty’s first fall tournament since competing at the Flames Invitational, Nov. 8-10, 2019. The Flames’ fall 2020 schedule was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liberty will also host two fall events at the Liberty Tennis Complex, the ITA Atlantic Regional (Oct. 14-17) and the Liberty Fall Hidden Dual (Nov. 5-7), later this fall.

Event/Days/Location: Duke James Bonk Invite | Friday-Sunday | Cary Tennis Park | Cary, N.C.

Participating Teams: Liberty, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, NC State, VCU, Elon, ETSU, Gardner-Webb

Liberty Flames Players Participating: Goncalo Ferreira, Deji Thomas-Smith, Josh Wilson

Schedule

Friday

First round of doubles – 10 a.m.

Second round of doubles – 11 a.m.

First round of singles – 1:30 p.m.

Saturday

Second round of singles – 9 a.m.

Third round of singles – 1 p.m.

Sunday

Final round of doubles – 9 a.m.

Final round of singles – 11 a.m.

Tournament Breakdown:

Eight of the nine teams in the Duke James Bonk Invite field finished the 2020-21 season as a nationally-ranked squad: No. 6 North Carolina, No. 12 Wake Forest, No. 26 NC State, No. 36 Duke, No. 38 VCU, No. 39 Liberty, No. 61 ETSU and No. 68 Elon.

Wilson is 15-9 all-time in fall singles matches, while Ferreira holds a 7-11 record. During the fall 2019 campaign, Wilson and Ferreira teamed up to post a 6-0 doubles record. Thomas-Smith holds a 10-9 career fall singles mark and 11-6 doubles record.

Liberty competed at this event two years ago. The Flames claimed nine total singles matches and two doubles contests during the course of the three-day tournament.