Isner and Flores Capture ITA All-American Doubles Title
©Colette Lewis 2006
Tulsa, OK--
John Isner was 1 for 2 in national championships on Sunday, when he and Georgia teammate Luis Flores swept past Michigan's Brian Hung and Matko Maravic 8-3, to win the All-American doubles title at the Michael Case Tennis Center.
"It was a little bit hard," Isner said of having to regroup for doubles just 90 minutes after dropping the morning singles championship match to Tulsa's Arnau Brugues. "But this is a very big tournament, so I knew if we could come out here and get a win, it would help ease my pain."
Seeded fifth, Flores and Isner got a quick start, breaking Hung in the fourth game. Serving flawlessly, they were never in danger of being broken themselves.
"We served very well," Flores understated. "That shut down the chances for them to break us."
Once they secured the second break, to go up 6-2, the outcome was never in doubt.
Flores and Isner have just begun playing together this fall, and there were a few calls of "yours" on balls down the middle that produced hesitation.
"We both want to hit the forehand in the middle," said Isner. "I need to start letting him have it, he has a better forehand," he said of his lefthanded partner. "But other than that, we play real well together, and I look forward to the rest of this year."
Hung and Maravic expressed disappointment with their performance in the final; after three days of dominating the opposition, the fourth seeds couldn't find the key to solving the Bulldogs' overpowering serves.
"They didn't miss too many first serves," said Maravic, "so it was very hard to break."
"One of our strengths is our returning," said Hung, "but today they just served too well."
Their attempt to become the first Michigan doubles team to win a national title in the program's 114-year history motivated the pair, but reaching the final was some consolation.
"We just lost, so it's kind of tough to think about how good a tournament we had," said Maravic. "But probably when it settles down, we'll realize that we really did a lot. We're proud to be the only Michigan team to make it to the finals here."
The consolation singles tournament final, for those losing in the first round, was played Sunday morning. Wake Forest's Todd Paul defeated Notre Dame's Stephen Bass 6-1, 6-2.
For complete draws, see the ITA website.
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