With the team tournament coming to a close, it’s time for the individual tournament to unfold. Action will begin Wednesday May 23rd. With no clear favorite to win it all, the NCAA singles tournament will be worth keeping an eye on. Let’s break down each of the top 8 seeds’ sections of the draw and give a prediction on who I think will advance to the quarterfinals.

The Draw

2018 NCAA Men's Singles Top Seeds

Seed Player School 1 Martin Redlicki UCLA 2 William Blumberg North Carolina 3 Nunos Borges Mississippi State 4 Petros Chrysochos Wake Forest 5 Patrick Kypson Texas A&M 6 Mikael Torpegaard Ohio State 7 Borna Gojo Wake Forset 8 Ryotaro Matsumura Kentucky

Martin Redlicki’s Section

After his team lost in the semifinals to Ohio State on Monday night, UCLA senior Martin Redlicki enters the singles tournament as the top seed. Redlicki was up 4-1 in the deciding set against Ohio State’s Mikael Torpegaard (6th ranked), but eventually lost 6-4. It will be interesting to see how he responds in the singles tournament.

Redlicki is heavily favored in his first two matches, but could run into some trouble in his round-of-16 match that would feature either Stanford Senior Tom Fawcett (9th ranked), Mississippi State’s Gio Oradini (23rd ranked), or Minnesota’s Felix Corwin (53rd ranked). I would keep my eyes on Corwin who has won five of his last six matches, including wins over Torpegaard (6th ranked), Wayne Montgomery (37th ranked), and Alexander Bakshi (30th ranked).

My pick is for Redlicki to advance out of this section, but don’t be shocked if whoever faces him in the round-of-16 gives him a run for his money.

Patrick Kypson’s Section

Texas A&M freshman Patrick Kypson (5th ranked) comes into the singles tournament after his team lost in the semifinals to Wake Forest on Monday night. Kypson lost to Borna Gojo (7th ranked) by a score of 6-2, 6-1 in that match.

Kypson can be expected to advance through his first two matches comfortably but his round-of-16 match will not be a walk in the park either. He will most likely face Alabama’s Mazen Osama (10th ranked) who beat Kypson in a 10-point match tiebreak back in March. I would not be surprised if TCU’s Trevor Johnson (65th ranked) runs the table, however, and takes out Osama in the round of 32. Johnson finished 16-4 in dual matches and lost a few close three-setters to top-15 ranked opponents like Illinois’ Aleks Vukic (6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4)) and Kypson’s teammate Arthur Rinderknech (4-6, 7-5, 6-2).

I’ll take Kypson to advance but with a highly-contested round of 16 match.

Petros Chrysochos’ Section

Wake Forest’s Petros Chrysochos (4th ranked) has been rock solid this year. He compiled a 26-1 dual match record at line-2 singles for the Demon Deacons. It’s hard to bet against Chrysochos after being so dominant but his 2nd round match against either Texas’ Yuya Ito (52nd ranked) or Kentucky’s Will Bushamuka (50th ranked) could be interesting, depending on how worn down Chrysochos is from the team tournament.

The other seed in Chrysochos’ section is Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz (15th ranked). I think Chrysochos should advance to the quarterfinals rather comfortably on his home courts.

Mikael Torpegaard’s Section

Ohio State Senior Mikael Torpegaard (6th ranked) has one of the tougher draws amongst the top 8 seeds. He is slated to play Arizona State’s Michael Geerts (20th ranked) in the first round who beat Torpegaard 7-6, 7-5 back in March.

It is also worth watching out for North Carolina freshman Ben Siguoin (32nd ranked) who was 16-4 on the year including a win over TCU’s Alex Rybakov (21st ranked).

USC’s Brandon Holt (11th ranked) is the other seed in this corner and he recently beat Geerts at the Pac-12 championships by a score of 6-4, 6-2. I’ll pick Geerts to upset Torpegaard in the opening round with Holt eventually beating Geerts in the round-of-16 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Ryotaro Matsumura’s Section

Kentucky’s Ryo Matsumura (8th ranked) comes to Winston-Salem after his team lost to Ohio State back in the round of 32 on May 12th. Matsumura has a rather tough draw facing Cal’s Billy Griffith (54th ranked) first round who has wins this season over Stanford’s Tom Fawcett (9th ranked) and Oregon’s Thomas Laurent (22nd ranked).

The other seed in Matsumura’s section is Tennessee’s Timo Stodder (16th ranked) who beat Matsumura 6-4, 6-3 back in April. Stodder also has wins on the year over Florida’s Alfredo Perez (14th ranked) and Alabama’s Mazen Osama (10th ranked).

I’ll take Stodder to advance to the quarterfinals out of this section.

Nuno Borges’ Section

Mississippi State’s Nuno Borges (3rd ranked) also has a tough draw, facing UCLA freshman Keegan Smith (56th ranked) in the first round, Smith has won 18 straight matches for the Bruins. Wake Forest’s Skander Mansouri (38th ranked) could also be a threat in this section of the draw. Mansouri was Smith’s last loss back in February and has a 20-5 dual match record on the year.

Texas A&M’s Jordi Arconada (48th ranked) recently beat Mansouri in the team tournament on Monday night, while Ohio State sophomore JJ Wolf (41st ranked) is also dangerous in this section. Florida’s Alfredo Perez (14th ranked) has been struggling as of late, so we may see an early upset by Wolf in the opening round.

Even with all these threats in his section, I’ll pick Borges to advance mainly because he has had a few days off to recover with his team losing to Ohio State in the team quarterfinals.

Borna Gojo’s Section

It will be interesting to see how Wake Forest’s Borna Gojo (7th ranked) performs the day after the NCAA team championship. He has been facing heavy hitters day in and day out at the line-1 singles spot for the Deacs.

I’ll pick a well-rested Alex Rybakov (21st ranked) to upset Gojo in the round of 32. Texas A&M senior Arthur Rinderknech (12th ranked) recently had a tough 6-2, 6-1 loss to Wake’s Chrysochos in the final four of the team tournament, so I don’t have much confidence in picking him to advance very far. Duke’s Nico Alvarez (19th ranked) has also been in and out of the lineup with injuries this season so it’s tough to have much confidence in him as well. Florida freshman Oliver Crawford (49th ranked) has been playing well lately including a recent straight-set win over Kypson (5th ranked).

I’ll take Rybakov over Crawford in a round-of-16 matchup.

William Blumberg’s Section

After reaching the finals of the singles tournament last year, North Carolina sophomore Will Blumberg (2nd ranked) is looking to take it one step further this season. Blumberg scored a 6-3, 6-0 victory over USC’s Brandon Holt (11th ranked) in his team’s final dual match of the season, so he is no doubt playing at a high level right now.

The other seed in this section is Michigan’s Alex Knight (17th ranked) who was one of the few people to beat Blumberg this dual match season.

I think Blumberg is playing at peak level right now and will avenge his loss to Knight in the round-of-16 and advance to the quarterfinals.

Who are your picks to advance out of the early stages? Let us know in the comments below!

Want more info on the 2018 NCAA tournament? Check out our recap of the NCAA team final.