LUBBOCK, Texas (October 2, 2023) – For a second consecutive season, Lubbock Christian University's Martins Abamu won the ITA South Central Regional Championship in men's singles and clinched his second trip to the ITA Cup, which is October 12-16 in Rome, Ga.
 
Abamu is one of 16 national qualifiers and one of eight to receive an automatic berth (eight at-large berths have not been announced) to the national event. Abamu went 6-0 at Penny Gullo Tennis Center, defeating two regionally seeded individuals in the process. He dominated his play, as he never needed a third set or tie-breaker. Of the 12 sets played, Abamu had set scores of 6-2 or better (as in 6-2, 6-1 or 6-0). Abamu's wins over seeded individuals came in his final two matches, as he defeated no.5-seeded Takumi Katsuda (UT Permian Basin) 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals and Midwestern State's No.3-seeded Luis Diaz Argente 6-2, 6-1 in the championship final.
 
Overall for the Chaparrals, hosting the ITA event was a success, and especially in singles play, as LCU combined to go 17-11 in singles. Pablo Segura and Tristan Vigneron each went 3-1 in their matches. Segura's loss came against Abamu in the quarterfinals, and Vigneron defeated No4-seeded Egor Shestakov (UT Tyler) before falling to Katsude in the quarterfinals. LCU received victories from eight of their 11 competitors.
 
In doubles, LCU's team of Herman Aguirre and Braden Tipton fell in a tie-breaker in their opening match, but rebounded to win four consecutive matches and go 5-1 en route to a consolation bracket title. Abamu also competed in doubles and teamed up for a victory alongside Sabri Laphitz.
 
The ITA Cup represents the championships for individual (non-dual) play in tennis, as the NCAA only issues national championships to the team (dual) events in the spring. Abamu is LCU only ITA Cup qualifier (all-time) and he is 1-2 all-time at the event. His pairing(s) will be announced at a later time.