ORLANDO, Fla. – Auburn sophomore Ashton Bowers and junior Ava Esposito will begin play at the 2025-26 NCAA Singles Championship on Tuesday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The 64-player draw will run Tuesday through Sunday.
Bowers earned her spot in the field by finishing as the singles co-champion at the ITA Southern Regional Championships in October. She enters the event with a 10-2 singles record this fall and has won five straight matches. Ranked No. 48 nationally, Bowers will make her NCAA Singles Championship debut Tuesday against Washington’s Reece Carter at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Esposito will also make her debut after earning a bid through the ITA South Sectional Championships earlier this month. She holds an 8-2 singles record this fall, including ranked wins over No. 19 Catherine Aulia of Tennessee and No. 54 Alejandra Cruz of Georgia Tech. The junior will open the tournament Tuesday against USC’s Krisha Mahendran at 11 a.m. CT.
One round of the single-elimination draw will be played each day at the USTA National Campus, concluding with Sunday’s championship match. Participants that reach the round of 16 in the draw automatically achieve ITA Singles All-American status.
Last season, DJ Bennett matched the deepest run in program history at the event, finishing as the national runner-up. Bennett and Merna Refaat earned ITA Singles All-America status by reaching the round of 16 in that event.
All matches of the 2025-26 NCAA Singles Championship will stream live on ESPN+, and live scoring will be available throughout the event at NCAA.com.