AUSTIN, Texas – Texas enters a momentous 2017-18 season with a roster chocked full of proven, battle-tested talent. The Longhorns will open their new on-campus home and take on a rigorous 2018 dual-match slate beginning in January. In the interim, Texas takes on a fall tournament season that opens this weekend with the annual Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational in Midland.

"It's the first tournament of the year and a great way to get the season started," said 18th year UT head coach Michael Center . "The plan is to play hard and get plenty of matches under our belts. We've been fortunate to have some of our guys win this tournament in the past. It's a great venue, the community gets involved with the event, and we always look forward to going back."

Texas will send four student-athletes to the singles and doubles event that features the likes of Texas Tech, TCU, SMU, Abilene Christian and UTSA, among others. Junior Adrian Ortiz returns from a medical redshirt year and will compete in doubles this weekend in Midland.

"It definitely means a lot to me to go get my competitive edge back and go play a tournament, Ortiz said. "I feel like I've been out almost two years now. It'll be great to get out there and play."

Senior John Mee , junior Colin Markes and redshirt sophomore Johnny Goodwin will join Ortiz in Midland. Markes won six matches at the event a year ago to claim the main singles draw.

The remainder of the Longhorns' roster will see tournament action throughout the fall. Texas landed four spots in the ITA preseason men's singles rankings released Tuesday. UT is the only school to rank three student-athletes among the nation's top-30 in singles.

Christian Sigsgaard , the 2017 Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year, ranks 15th. Junior Harrison Scott ranks 22nd while All-America junior Yuya Ito ranks 26th. Junior Leonardo Telles ranks 86th in singles, while Scott and Ortiz rank 57th together in doubles.

"We were really young last year, but our guys are a year older and a year stronger now," Center said. "The rankings indicate we have some very good players on this team, but we'll see where we are in April and May. That's when we really want to peak as a team."

Next up for Texas are the Oracle ITA Masters (Sept. 21-24) in Malibu and the Cajun Tennis Classic (Sept. 22-24) in Lafayette, Louisiana.