NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's tennis team has another opportunity to compete in one of the nation's most prestigious tournaments this weekend. The Bulldogs are headed to Montgomery, Ala., for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. Yale faces Texas Tech in the first round on Friday at 1:30 p.m. EST.
 
The other teams in field are Arizona, Furman, Tulsa, Wake Forest, Alabama and Illinois. The Bulldogs will meet either Arizona or Furman in its second match of the tournament.
 
The Bulldogs, who are No. 58 in the ITA national computer rankings, are 5-3 so far this spring.
 
Texas Tech (6-3) is coming off a split of two matches on Feb. 18, a 4-0 win over Arizona and a 4-0 loss to Kansas.
 
Three of the other teams in the field are ranked – No. 31 Arizona, No. 32 Illinois and No. 38 Wake Forest.
 
For over 70 years, some of the finest tennis players in the world have come to Montgomery in early spring to do battle. How did Montgomery come to host one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country? The answer lies in Montgomery's "Mr. Tennis"– Jack Bushman.

In 1949, Mr. Bushman, a Montgomery resident, was the President of the Southern Lawn Tennis Association. He wanted to tie-in a world class tennis tournament to the prestigious Blue Gray football classic. He envisioned starting an event similar to the world-renowned Sugar Bowl junior tennis tournament that is played in conjunction with the Sugar Bowl football game. However, he decided the tournament should feature top college players rather than juniors.
 
For the first 30 years, the Blue Gray tournament was an individual contest rather than the present-day team competition.