Srebrovic and Kohlloeffel Earn ITA Indoor Singles Titles; Stanford and Ohio State Take Doubles Crowns

©Colette Lewis 2005

--Columbus OH--

There was history made in the men's portion of the ITA Individual Indoor, with an unprecendented repeat in doubles and a surprising first in singles. On the women's side, a storied program garnered another doubles title and the Gator Chomp was part of the singles champion's celebration.

Unseeded Diana Srebrovic of Florida indulged in the jaws-opening gesture after she drove a forehand winner by Theresa Logar of Stanford to cap her 7-5, 6-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Racquet Club of Columbus. Srebrovic's remarkably deep groundstrokes kept the feisty Logar, seeded eighth, on the defensive throughout the match, and when Logar was unable to serve out the first set after holding a 5-3 lead, Srebrovic seized control.

"I kept my focus," said the sophomore, who spent her freshman year on the Virginia team before transferring. "Concentrating on good footwork and keeping on her backhand side, and away from her forehand."

The lefthanded Logar often loudly encourages and chastises herself during play, frequently referring to herself in the third person, and as well as she defended Srebrovic's onslaught, the wails of "Theresa, don't DO that!" began to outnumber the "come on, right here" pep talks. Srebrovic, who did not lose a set in the tournament, was, in contrast, serene and composed even when her unforced errors climbed, and even when she was overruled on game point by the chair umpire, losing her break in the second set, and giving Logar a glimmer of hope. But that was dashed in the match's final game, when Logar, serving at 4-5, was powerless to counter Srebrovic's three clean forehand winners, the last one eliciting the Gator Chomp celebration.

"I'm a very proud Gator," said Srebrovic after the match. "I'm very happy to be at Florida."

In the men's final, UCLA's Ben Kohlloeffel became the first Bruin to win the men's singles in the event's 27-year history, when he defeated Ludovic Walter of Duke 7-5, 6-1. With UCLA's list of great players during the past three decades, it seemed probable that an indoor champion would be among them, but until Sunday, none had even played in the final match.

Kohlloeffel, a junior from Germany, and Walter, a senior from France, were locked in a first set that typified the hotly contested battles seen in the men’s game throughout the tournament. But at five all, Walter was broken and Kohlloeffel, after serving out the set, kept up his relentless attack.

“I do serve and volley more indoors,” said the lefthander, who saved three match points in his semifinal win over John Isner of Georgia on Saturday. “You have to when the courts are fast, but it’s kind of my game anyway. His serve let down a little bit in the second set, and I kept aggressive.”

Walter, who also favors fast courts, gave Kohlloeffel credit for keeping the pressure on.

“He returned and served well," said Walter. "He played aggressive and it seems I lost focus a bit in the second set. And maybe that he's the first lefty I faced might have been a factor.”

In the men’s doubles competition, Scott Green and Ross Wilson of Ohio State sent their fans home happy, becoming the first team ever to defend their title, as they captured a 9-7 victory over top seed Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom of Middle Tennessee State.

Green and Wilson credited the standing-room-only crowd with the edge they needed to sneak past the six-foot nine-inch duo, recent winners of the All-American tournament in Tulsa.

“The crowd really pulled us through some tight spots,” said Wilson. “We knew breaks would be hard to come by,” Green admitted. “We got lucky, got a couple of returns back and came through.”

Serving dominated the match, and often even second serve returns couldn’t find the court. But with Siljestrom serving at 7-7, Green and Wilson managed to extend points long enough for the precious break, and the roar that accompanied it had barely died down when Wilson stepped to the line to finish the task. Taking very little time between points, the lefthander rode the momentum the crowd provided, and the Buckeye team took the last four points to remain Indoor Champions.

Cradling the large trophies while accepting congratulations from friends and family and posing for more than a couple cell phone photos, the seniors from Ohio were asked if they had space for the new hardware. “We’ll find room,” Green said with a smile.

The Stanford women’s team of Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey made their contribution to the trophy-laden Cardinal program by downing North Carolina’s Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long 8-5, becoming the seventh team from Palo Alto to win the Indoor doubles title.

Playing one court away from the boisterous men’s doubles final crowd, even the veterans of the 2005 NCAA finals (Barnes was half of the team that defeated Yelsey and her partner) found the noise level exceptional.

“It was so loud,” said Barnes, “we couldn’t even hear each other out there. It was a difficult situation.”

In contrast to the men’s final, the women’s featured breaks galore, but the Stanford pair used their big-match experience edge to close out the unseeded team from North Carolina.

As to whether they would remain a team throughout the upcoming dual match season, Barnes, a senior, and Yelsey, a junior, weren’t sure.

“We are really strong at the moment,” said Barnes, “but the whole team is very strong in doubles. What’s important is that we get that first point in dual matches.”

Yelsey followed her doubles title with the consolation championship in singles, defeating Suzi Fodor of California 7-6 (6) 6-2. Cristelle Grier and Alexis Prousis of Northwestern won the consolation doubles, downing Bianca Dulgheru and Eva Dickes, Pepperdine, 9-8(5).

Ryler DeHeart’s tournament ended a lot better than it started, as the number one seed, who was upset in the first round Thursday, took the consolation championship with a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Duke’s Jonathan Stokke. KC Corkery and James Pade of Stanford beat Baylor’s Jon Reckewey and Matija Zgaga 9-8 (5), to take the consolation doubles.

For more coverage of Sunday's action see Marcia Frost's collegeandjunior.com story and that of the ITA's Casey Angle.