University of Georgia Athletics
Isner And Ruiz Win Doubles National Championship
May 30, 2005 | Men's Tennis
May 30, 2005
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas --- Sophomore John Isner and junior Antonio Ruiz claimed the NCAA Men's Doubles National Championship Monday afternoon with a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over Mark Growcott and Ken Skupski of LSU. The No. 1 seeded Bulldog duo broke Skupski's serve twice in the second set to earn the victory. The win marks the third NCAA doubles crown for the University of Georgia.
"This feels great," said Isner. "Especially for me after coming so close last year and losing in the final, it's a great relief to win, it takes lot of pressure off. I'm really happy for Tony and I, we fought hard all year long. We could have given up after we had that tough, ugly first-round match but we didn't. We fought back then we really rolled from there."
"We've been fighting hard for two weeks," said Ruiz. "It feels great get it done and get the win."
"They really played like winners," said Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz. "They hung tight, had some opportunities that they didn't take advantage of but kept on fighting. This is a very deserving team and I can't say enough about the way they competed."
Leading 6-5 in the second set and already having won the first, Isner and Ruiz were able to break Skupski's serve at 30-40 to take home the victory. The break was just the third of the match and the second for Georgia.
The first set saw each team hold serve, both surviving break chances by the opposition. In the tiebreak, Isner and Ruiz caught fire, winning six straight points to go up 6-1. With Georgia needing just one more point to take the set, Skupski and Growcott were able to pull the score to 6-4, but could not keep the rally going long enough. Isner and Ruiz took the first set 7-6, with a 7-4 score in the tiebreak.
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