University of Georgia Athletics
NCAA Tennis Singles And Doubles Finals On Monday
May 28, 2007 | General
ATHENS, Ga. --- The Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tennis Championships will come to a close Monday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, as the final match-ups have been set in both singles and doubles. Competition will begin at noon with men’s doubles followed by women’s doubles no earlier than 1 p.m. The men’s singles final will begin at 6 p.m. followed by the women’s singles final no earlier than 7 p.m.
The men’s final match-up is set, and for the first time since 1999 when second-seeded Jeff Morrison of Florida defeated top-seeded Jeff Blake of Harvard, it will be the top two seeds facing off for the title. No. 1 John Isner of Georgia and No. 2 Somdev Devvarman of Virginia both won semifinal matches and are headed for the finals. The two played each other in the team semifinals this year, with Devvarman coming out as the winner. It was one of only two dual-match losses for Isner all season.
Devvarman won his semifinal match with a tight three-set victory over fourth-seeded Illinois’ Kevin Anderson. The entire first set remained on serve, and then the Virginia junior took the tiebreaker 7-3. The second set remained on serve as well until Anderson, leading 6-5, broke to take the set 7-5.
But the third set was in Devvarman’s control, as he won it by a 6-3 margin. This will mark the second straight year Devvarman will be playing for a singles title, as he lost in the championship match last year to UCLA’s Benjamin Kohlloeffel. He is trying to become Virginia’s first men’s netter to win a national title as no Cavalier has won a singles or doubles title and the team owns no national titles either.
In other men’s semifinal action, Washington’s Alex Slovic saw his run come to an end, as the Huskies senior who was originally the sixth alternate advanced all the way to the semifinals. He even won his first set over Isner in a 7-4 tiebreaker, but the tournament’s top seed was too much in the next two sets. The Bulldog senior won both of the final sets, 6-4, 6-4, for his spot in the final.
Isner had 19 aces in his semifinal match to bring his total aces in the individual tournament to 74. Including the team portion, Isner has muscled 103 total aces in the NCAA Championships.
The women’s final match is set between top-seeded Audra Cohen of Miami and fourth-seeded Lindsey Nelson of USC. The two played each other last week with Cohen defeating Nelson in the NCAA Round of 16 in three sets to clinch Miami’s team victory. Nelson knocked top-seeded Cohen out of last year’s NCAA Singles Championships in three sets in the Round of 16.
In the first semifinal match, Cohen avenged her loss in the 2005 singles finals to Baylor’s Zuzana Zemenova with a straight-sets 6-2, 6-2 victory. Zemenova won the 2005 singles championship over Cohen in Athens when both were freshmen, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. But it was Cohen who won the semifinal match between the two juniors.
Cohen, who played for Northwestern her freshman year before transferring to Miami, will be the only athlete to play for a singles national title in NCAA women’s tennis while at two different schools.
In the second women’s semifinal contest, Nelson overcame a 3-0 deficit early in the first set to win it 7-6(1). She then took control of the second, winning it 6-2. This will be Nelson’s second straight appearance in the finals, as she lost last year’s championship match to Susie Babos of California.
The men’s doubles final set for Monday at noon will feature Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom of Middle Tennessee State and Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe of Illinois.
The Middle Tennessee State pair defeated second-seeded Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey of Virginia, 6-3, 7-6(5). The Illini duo, which won the doubles championship last year, beat Mariusz Adamski and Todd Paul of Wake Forest, 7-5, 7-5, for its spot in the final.
Both of the top seeds in women’s doubles action will play for the championship Monday. The top-seeded tandem of Megan Moulton-Levy and Katarina Zoricic of William & Mary took down Ani Mijacika and Frederica van Adrichem of Clemson in straight sets in the semis.
The other women’s doubles semifinals went to three sets, and the No. 2 seed of Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long of North Carolina captured it, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. They will face the Tribe’s top-seeded pair Monday for the title.
Match Results
Men’s Singles - Semifinals
No. 1 John Isner, Georgia def. Alex Slovic, Washington, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 Somdev Devvarman, Virginia def. No. 4 Kevin Anderson, Illinois, 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3
Men’s Doubles - Semifinals
No. 5-8 Marco Born/Andreas Siljestrom, Middle Tennessee def. No. 2 Treat Huey/Somdev Devvarman, Virginia 6-3, 7-6(5)
No. 5-8 Kevin Anderson/Ryan Rowe, Illinois, def. No. 5-8 Mariusz Adamski/Todd Paul, Wake Forest, 7-5, 7-5
Women’s Singles - Semifinals
No. 1 Audra Cohen, Miami def. Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor, 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Lindsey Nelson, Southern California def. No. 2 Megan Falcon, LSU 7-6(2), 6-2
Women’s Doubles - Semifinals
No. 1 Megan Moulton-Levy/Katarina Zoricic, William & Mary def. Ani Mijacika/Federica van Adrichem, Clemson, 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long, North Carolina def. No. 4 Ana Cetnik/Anna Sydorska, TCU, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
