Sept. 19, 2012

STANFORD, Calif.- Stanford opens its fall season this weekend, competing in the 12th annual Audi Napa Valley Tennis Classic at the Meadowood Napa Valley Resort in St. Helena, Calif.

Representing the Cardinal in singles will be Daniel Ho, Matt Kandath, John Morrissey and Robert Stineman. Doubles teams in competition include Kandath/Morrissey and Ho/Stineman.

This year's 32-team singles tournament features the top four players from the following six schools: Stanford, California, Georgia, Harvard, Illinois and Texas. Also joining the field are eight junior players from the USTA National Junior Elite Division.

Following three matches in pool play of the round-robin style singles tourney, the eight pool winners will compete in the PlayBrave USTA Wild Card Shootout, a single-elimination, 10-point tiebreak tournament. The winner of the tournament will receive a USTA-sponsored wild card into a USTA Pro Circuit event that is yet to be determined.

Competition gets underway Friday morning and concludes with the finals on Sunday morning.

Stanford (20-9, 5-2 Pac-12) advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships for the second straight season. The Cardinal, which placed third in the Pac-12, reached the 20-win plateau for the fourth consecutive year, finished the year with a No. 9 national ranking and upset No. 6 Kentucky in the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. In addition to participating in NCAA singles play, Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher put the finishing touches on an incredible doubles career. Capturing their seventh doubles title with a March victory at the Pacific Coast Doubles, Klahn and Thacher reached the quarterfinals of NCAA Championships. Seeking his second career NCAA singles title after winning the championship in 2010, Klahn's NCAA singles run ended in the semifinals. Despite missing most of the year due to injury, Klahn anchored the top spot of Stanford's lineup and closed out the year at 18-6 overall and 14-5 in duals.