Will Alabama be dethroned at the 2024 ITA National Wheelchair Tennis Championships?

New year. New name. New champion?

The University of Alabama arrives at the USTA National Campus in Orlando this week for the ITA National Wheelchair Tennis Championships as the seven-time defending team champions, but after a transitional year which saw its top player graduate and a new coach take the reins, the Crimson Tide might be ripe for an upset.

Previously known as the USTA Collegiate Wheelchair Tennis National Championships, the event will be entering its 24th year in 2024. The 10 teams competing this year matches an all-time high for schools competing, which was first reached last year. In addition to the Crimson Tide, this year's field also features the University of Arizona, Auburn University, Clemson University, the University of Houston, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, San Diego State University, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech University.

Collegiate wheelchair tennis is organized by the USTA and supported by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the governing body for college tennis, to help provide more competitive playing opportunities in wheelchair tennis nationwide. Its three-fold purpose is to grow the sport, encourage individuals with disabilities to pursue a college education, and give students with physical disabilities an equal opportunity to compete in intercollegiate sport as a representative of their institution.

The national tournament features a singles competition, with three flights based on competitors' skill level, 'A,' 'B' and 'C,' and a team event. Team matches will feature one doubles match and two singles matches, and the first team to claim two of these three possible team points will be awarded the win for that dual match. Individual matches follow a best-of-three-sets format with no-ad scoring, and a 10-point match tiebreak played in lieu of the third set. Since the event began in 2000, wheelchair users who are either students, staff or affiliated with colleges and universities are eligible to compete either as full teams, and/or as individual competitors.

This year, a new singles champion is assured of being crowned in the top 'A' bracket. Alabama lost Canadian Thomas Venos, winner of the last three 'A' singles events, to graduation last spring. But both the 'B' and 'C' singles champions from 12 months ago, Houston's Nicholas Tijerina and Virginia's Jacob Wald, respectively, are back and looking to defend their titles. Last year, Wald went 5-0 in his singles bracket, having just picked up a racquet for the first time the previous September.