Smith Advances to US Open ACI Finals

Sept. 9, 2016

FLUSHING, N.Y. — Former Georgia men's tennis player Austin Smith defeated former NCAA Champion and ITA All-American Ryan Shane of Virginia by a score of 7-6 (1), 6-4 on Friday afternoon to advance to the finals of the 2016 US Open American Collegiate Invitational.

Smith used a quick start to get out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Shane fought back and sent the set to a tiebreaker, which Smith won 7-1. Holding serve each time in the second set, Smith needed just one break to win 6-4.

"I relaxed a little bit in the first set, maybe a little bit of nerves, but I was just happy I was able to keep my head and sweep that first set out in the breaker," said Smith. "At the end, definitely a little more nerves. I tried to block out that it was the end of the match and not think about anything else but just the next point, and take it one point at a time."

In Saturday's final match, Smith will meet Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Virginia. The winner of Saturday's match will receive a wild card into the 2017 US Open, main draw or qualifying, depending on his ranking next summer.

Smith just completed an outstanding career in Athens. The Cumming, Georgia native helped the Bulldogs win four-straight Southeastern Conference titles and was an ITA All-American this past season. Smith finished his time at UGA with 129 singles victories — the fifth-most by any player in school history.

The American Collegiate Invitational, open only to American college players, began in 2014 as a way to spotlight college tennis during the US Open. Eight men and eight women play single-elimination singles tournaments Thursday to Saturday during the second week of the US Open.

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