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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Favorites Move On in NCAA Singles and Doubles Thursday


©Colette Lewis 2010--
Athens, GA--

It started hot and stayed hot Thursday in Athens, and with humidity high and little breeze, it was not a day any player in the second round of the NCAA individual championships wanted to be entangled in a three-hour match. Most of the favorites survived the energy-sapping conditions, although few had easy matches.

Top seeds Henrique Cunha of Duke and Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech kept their court time to a minimum, with Cunha looking very sharp in his 6-3, 6-2 win over Gonzalo Escobar of Texas Tech. Falconi was behind in both sets of her match against Northwestern's Samantha Murray but found her rhythm to record a 6-3, 6-4 win.

No. 3 seed Maria Sanchez of Southern California had a long and difficult two-setter with 2008 NCAA semifinalist Fani Chifchieva of Auburn, but pulled out a 7-6(3), 7-5 win. Sanchez served for the first set at 5-4 but wasn't able to seize that opportunity. In the tiebreaker, she took advantage of some good serving, and in the second set, she was able to capitalize on her first match point with Chifchieva serving at 5-6. After the match, Sanchez said her main focus was "just not to get in my own way."

Sanchez's counterpart for the Trojans on the men's side, Robert Farah, is also one of the favorites for the title, even though he is a 9 seed. Down a break early in the first set to Georgia's Javier Garrapiz, Farah came up with some big shots when Garrapiz served for the first set at 5-4, and rolled to a 7-5, 6-1 win. Although Garrapiz wasn't aware of it, Farah had vomited twice at the beginning that tenth game.

"I felt better after that, but I couldn't drink water anymore," Farah said.

He showed no signs of illness as the game progressed, winning the first three points and getting the break back on the game's fifth point.

"I kind of broke down," said Garrapiz, who also gave Farah's serve credit, calling it a "joke."

"He started playing better too, I was kind of tired too, I was feeling it in my legs and didn't get to the balls I got to in the first set."

In another morning match, No. 7 seed Chase Buchanan of Ohio State defeated Ryan Lipman of Vanderbilt in a rematch of the 2009 Boys 18s final in Kalamazoo. Buchanan won that match in straight sets, but had more difficulty on Thursday, when he needed a late break in the third set to record a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win. Buchanan had been up 3-0 in the final set, but the sophomore struggled to hold serve the remainder of the way, although he wasn't broken until serving for the match at 5-3.

Lipman held a game point serving at 4-5, but double faulted, and a return winner by Buchanan gave him his first match point. Lipman saved that one, but Buchanan hit a forehand winner to give himself another one, and a forehand error by Lipman cost the freshman the match, which was just under two and a half hours long.

No. 8 seed Alexandre Lacroix of Florida spent over three hours on the court with Bassam Beidas of Pepperdine, but was unable to record the win. Serving for the match in the third set, Lacroix was broken at 5-4, and Beidas took the next two games too, posting a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Beidas was one of nine players who earned All-American honors on Thursday. For those unseeded in the individual tournament, a win in the round of 32 is another way to secure that coveted title. The other eight are: Kristie Boxx of Ole Miss, Bianca Eichkorn of Miami, Nina Secergebovic of Baylor, Noelle Hickey of UCLA, Ellah Nze of Duke, Rhyne Williams of Tennessee, Austin Childs of Louisville and Marcel Thiemann of Ole Miss.

The first round of doubles finished late Thursday evening, and two finalists from the 2009 championships barely survived.

Defending women's champions Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova of Cal, who are unseeded this year, survived Florida's Anastasia Revzina and Lauren Embree 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-1, with Revzina and Embree serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

Davey Sandgren and JP Smith of Tennessee, the 2009 finalists, dropped the first set to Keziel Juneau and Sebastien Vidal of William and Mary, but managed to eke out a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory.

The round of 16 begins at 10 am on Friday. For the brackets, see ncaa.com

FULL RESULTS:
MEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 32
#1 Reid Carleton-Henrique Cunha (1), DUKE def. #15 Moritz Baumann-Marek Michalicka, Wisconsin, 6-3, 7-5
#16 Amit Inbar-Nick Meister, UCLA def. #26 Alejandro Calligari-Simon Childs, Louisville, 6-4, 6-2
#14 Drew Courtney-Michael Shabaz, Virginia def. #5 Jeff Dadamo-Austin Krajicek (5-8), Texas A&M, 6-4, 6-4
#11 Marek Czerwinski-Dennis Nevolo, Illinois def. #20 Christoph Thiemann-Marcel Thiemann, OLE MISS, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
#4 Bradley Klahn-Ryan Thacher (4), Stanford def. #12 Boris Conkic-Rhyne Williams, 6-2, 6-2
#31 Jason Jung-Evan King, Michigan def. #17 Raony Carvalho-Rafael Garcia, Texas Tech, 7-6(8), 7-6(2)
#18 Andrei Daescu-Costin Paval, Oklahoma def. #8 Antoine Benneteau-Alexandre Lacroix (5-8), Florida, 6-3, 6-4
#25 Pedro Campos-Diego Cubas, South Carolina vs. #30 Jonathan Dahan-Pedro Zerbini, California, 7-6 (5) 6-4
#22 Brad Cox-Eric Quigley, Kentucky def. #24 Philip Stephens-Ashley Watling, Tulsa, 6-3, 7-5
#6 Dimitar Kutrovsky-Josh Zavala (5-8), Texas def. #27 Bassam Beidas-Alex Llompart, Pepperdine, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
#19 Clay Donato-Stefan Hardy, North Carolina def. #28 Denes Lukacs-Roberto Maytin, Baylor, 6-3, 6-4
#2 Robert Farah-Steve Johnson (3), Southern California def. #42 Emanu Brighiu-Christopher Price, TCU, 6-4, 6-2
#21 Iain Atkinson-Steven Forman, Wake Forest def. #23 Remi Boutillier-Rikus de Villiers, Fresno State, 7-6(4), 7-6(2)
#9 Chase Buchanan-Dino Marcan (5-8), Ohio State def. #10 Tim Puetz-Alexander Stamchev, Auburn, 7-5, 6-3
#13 Aleksey Bessonov-Oleksandr Nedovyesov, Oklahoma State def. #29 George Coupland-Artem Ilyushin, Mississippi State, 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-2
#3 Davey Sandgren-John-Patrick Smith (2), Tennessee def. #48 Keziel Juneau-Sebastien Vidal, William and Mary, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5

WOMEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 32
#1 Natalie Pluskota-Caitlin Whoriskey (1), Tennessee def. #21 Joyce Ardies-Denise Dy, Washington, 7-5, 6-1
#18 Anna Redecsi-Selma Salkovic, DePaul def. #37 Holly Dowse-Emma Hayman, College of Charleston, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2
#5 Marrit Boonstra-Allie Will (5-8), Florida def. #19 Whitney Taney-Rika Tatsuno, Michigan, 6-3, 6-4
#57 Carolina de los Santos-Valentina Galbarini, Stetson def. #40 Stephanie Dalmacio-Delia Damaschin, Wichita State, 6-2, 6-3
#3 Kristy Frilling-Kali Krisik (3), Notre Dame def. #13 Sophie Grabinski-Sanaz Marand, North Carolina, 6-3, 6-2
#46 Kayla Duncan-Katariina Tuohimaa, TCU def. #24 Elena Chernyakova-Lauren Lui, Northwestern, 7-6(4), 6-2
#8 Nadja Gilchrist-Chelsey Gullickson (5-8), Georgia def. #14 Merel Beelen-Sonja Molnar, Iowa, 6-2, 6-2
#12 Kristi Boxx-Karen Nijssen, OLE MISS def. #22 Sasha Kulikova-Kathryn Talbert, Wake Forest, 7-5, 6-4
#9 Mari Andersson-Jana Juricova, California def. #26 Lauren Embree-Anastasia Revzina, Florida, 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-1
#6 Gabriela Mejia-Laura Vallverdu (5-8), Miami def. #54 Sophia Bergner-Ute Schnoy, Denver, 6-1, 6-4
#27 Hilary Bartlett-Taylor Marable, Princeton def. #16 Melissa Koning-Irene Rehberger, South Florida, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
#4 Andrea Remynse-Yasmin Schnack (4), UCLA def. #52 Joanna Dobrowolska-Nadine Fahoum, Old Dominion, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
#11 Csilla Borsanyi-Lenka Broosova, Baylor def. #48 Brittany Blalock-Suzie Matzenauer, Cal Poly, 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-5
#7 Josipa Bek-Ina Hadziselimovic (5-8), Clemson def. #35 Michaela Kissell-Dominica Zaprazna, Marshall, 7-6(5), 6-4
#17 Alexa Guarachi-Courtney McLane, Alabama def. #45 Lauren Megale-Pichittra Thongdach, Boise State, 6-3, 45-7, 6-1
#2 Hilary Barte-Lindsay Burdette (2), Stanford def. #23 Irina Falconi-Sasha Krupina, Georgia Tech, 6-4, 6-2

MEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 32
#2 Henrique Cunha (1), DUKE def. #37 Gonzalo Escobar, TEXAS TECH, 6-3, 6-2
#14 Sanam Singh (9-16), VIRGINIA def. #60 Ashley Watling, TULSA, 6-2, 6-0
#5 Oleksandr Nedovyesov (6), OKLAHOMA STATE def. #23 Justin Kronauge, OHIO STATE, 6-4, 6-2
#9 Robert Farah (9-16), USC def. #22 Javier Garrapiz, GEORGIA, 7-5, 6-1
#4 Guillermo Gomez (4), GEORGIA TECH def. #21 Saketh Myneni, ALABAMA, 7-6(5), 6-4
#13 Bradley Klahn (9-16), STANFORD def. #36 Boris Conkic, TENNESSEE, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
#33 Marcel Thiemann, OLE MISS def. #57 Jarmere Jenkins, VIRGINIA, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
#12 Eric Quigley (9-16), KENTUCKY def. #47 Dennis Nevolo, ILLINOIS, 6-3, 6-2
#10 Dimitar Kutrovsky (9-16), TEXAS def. #34 Clay Donato, NORTH CAROLINA, 6-4, 6-4
#32 Bassam Beidas, PEPPERDINE def. #7 Alex Lacroix (8), FLORIDA, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
#15 Denes Lukacs (9-16), BAYLOR def. #30 Marek Michalicka, WISCONSIN, 6-2, 6-3
#19 Austen Childs, LOUISVILLE def. #46 Drew Courtney, VIRGINIA, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(7)
#11 Michael Shabaz (9-16), VIRGINIA def. #51 Haythem Abid, UCLA, 6-3, 6-4
#8 Chase Buchanan (7), OHIO STATE def. #34 Ryan Lipman, VANDERBILT, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
#16 Tim Puetz (9-16), AUBURN def. #39 Jeff Dadamo, TEXAS A&M, 6-4, 7-6(5)
#45 Rhyne Williams, TENNESSEE def. #42 Marcelo Arevalo, TULSA, 7-5, 6-1

WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 32
#1 Irina Falconi (1), GEORGIA TECH def. #41 Samantha Murray, NORTHWESTERN, 6-3, 6-4
#15 Venise Chan (9-16), WASHINGTON def. #31 Alison Ramos, USC, 6-2, 7-6(9)
#8 Allie Will (7), FLORIDA def. #26 Andrea Remynse, UCLA, 6-2, 6-1
#12 Chelsey Gullickson (9-16), GEORGIA def. #21 Sanaz Marand, NORTH CAROLINA, 7-6 (3), 6-4
#4 Hilary Barte (4), STANFORD def. #88 Ute Schnoy, 6-1, 6-2
#44 Kristi Boxx, OLE MISS def. #16 Kristy Frilling (9-16), NOTRE DAME, 6-2, 6-4
#5 Lenka Broosova (5), BAYLOR def. #29 Anouk Tigu, ARKANSAS, 6-3, 6-0
#40 Bianca Eichkorn, MIAMI def. #50 Micaela Hein, ARIZONA STATE, 6-1, 6-1
#48 Nadja Gilchrist, GEORGIA def. #11 Caitlin Woriskey (9-16), TENNESSEE, 6-4, 6-1
#7 Laura Vallverdu (8), MIAMI def. #33 Mallory Burdette, STANFORD, 6-4, 6-0
#46 Noelle Hickey, UCLA def. #35 Mari Andersson, CALIFORNIA, 6-2, 6-3
#3 Maria Sanchez (3), USC def. #36 Fani Chifchieva, AUBURN, 7-6(3), 7-5
#47 Ellah Nze, DUKE def. #49 Pachittra Thongdach, BOISE STATE, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
#20 Nina Secerbegovic, BAYLOR def. #37 Danielle Lao, USC, 6-1,3-6, 6-3
#13 Maria Mosolova (9-16), NORTHWESTERN def. #54 Katrina Tsang, NORTH CAROLINA, 6-0, 7-6(4)
#2 Jana Juricova, CALIFORNIA def. #43 Irene Rehberger, SOUTH FLORIDA, 6-2, 6-1

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