Aug. 1, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis junior Chip Cox (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Myrtle Beach) will play in the USTA Boys’ 18 National Championships for the fourth time in his career when the event begins on Fri., Aug. 3, in Kalamazoo, Mich. Both the singles and doubles champions earn automatic bids to the main draw of the U.S. Open.

Cox will open singles play against Jake Albo of Plantation, Fla., with the winner of the match taking on No. 20 Nolan Paige of Fairfield, Conn. The doubles draw has not been announced, but Cox is set to team with Gordon Watson, a redshirt freshman at the University of Florida last season, in the competition.

Joining the Gamecocks in January 2011 at the age of 16, Cox will be the rare college junior at the tournament. After making his debut in the Boys 18 event in 2009, Cox is looking to make his final outing his best. After falling to the No. 1 seed in the second round, Cox advanced to the third round of the feed-in bracket each of the last two years. The highest seed in Cox’s section of the bracket this season is No. 8 Alexios Halebian.

In doubles, Cox is coming off a college season in which he teamed with fellow sophomore Nick Jones to form the nation’s 23rd-ranked tandem. The duo went 7-7 in dual-match play in the spring, including a 6-3 mark in SEC action, and defeated five nationally ranked opponents with a win over a top-10 foe highlighting the victories.

Follow the USTA Boys’ 18 National Championships at http://ustaboys.com/draws.html.