The Stanford men’s tennis team opens play today at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Seattle, Wash.

Last week at the ITA All-American Championships, freshman Alex Clayton put forth a strong showing in his run to the quarterfinals. This week, the Cardinal will be represented in the singles and doubles brackets as plenty of athletes hope to make their own statements on the court for the Cardinal.

“This tournament is not anything huge,” coach John Whitlinger said. “We had Matt [Bruch], Alex [Clayton], Blake [Muller] and Richard [Wire] play last weekend, and now this weekend we get to see the other guys in action.”

Freshmen Greg Hirshman and Ted Kelly, sophomores Wire and Kevin Kaiser, and juniors Jeff Zeller and Muller will be playing this weekend. Muller and Kelly are the top seed in the doubles bracket and Wire and Hirshman will be the No. 5 seed, with Kaiser and Zeller also teaming up.

“I’m looking forward to this tournament, singles and doubles,” Wire said. “I think I have a chance to go far [in singles]. I’m playing with Hirshman in doubles. I think our games work well together.”

In singles, Wire is the No. 2 seed while Muller is the No. 9 seed. Both had opening round losses last weekend and both are prepared to bounce back this weekend.

“This is just a pruning for our guys, more than anything,” Whitlinger said. “It’s a time for match experience. I hope we can get winners in singles and doubles, but I’m just looking for everyone to play well.”

The Northwest Regional is one of 18 different regionals taking place across the country during the final weeks of October. The winners of the Regionals in singles and doubles advance to the National Indoor Championships at the beginning of November, hosted by the Ohio State University.

Clayton has already qualified for National Indoors, but Bruch will sit this tournament out after playing last week and nursing a minor injury.

Play begins tomorrow with the singles and doubles brackets at the University of Washington’s Nordstrom Tennis Center.