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NCAA Champs Juricova, Gullickson Fall at USTA/ITA National Indoor Top-ranked doubles teams also upset on wild second day of play |
First out was 2010 NCAA singles winner Chelsey Gullickson, who lost a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision to Joanna Mather of Florida in the second round. The Gator senior went on to earn a 6-3, 6-1 victory over North Carolina's Lauren McHale, who was supported during the tournament by younger sister and world No. 42 Christina McHale. Mather, who played No. 4 singles for Florida last season, finds herself among the final four players vying for a national title. "I feel like finally everything is coming together," said Mather, who saved match points in her first round match Thursday. "Last year my serve was struggling a little bit, but it feels good now. I think maybe that's the difference between last year and this year." Like Gullickson, reigning NCAA champion and 2009 National Indoor winner Jana Juricova was undone by a conference foe. Washington's Denise Dy did the honors, eliminating the No. 1 seed 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. "It's definitely a great accomplishment," said Dy. "This is one of the three major tournaments in college tennis, and I made the semifinals my sophomore year. Hopefully, I can beat that tomorrow." Marta Lesniak of SMU added to the upsets with an impressive 6-3, 6-1 quarterfinal win over No. 4 seed Mallory Burdette of Stanford. Burdette's doubles partner, second-seeded Nicole Gibbs, nearly suffered the same fate. With Miami's Anna Bartenstein blasting down-the-line winners at will, Gibbs fell behind 6-4, 5-4 in her quarterfinal match. But the Cardinal sophomore capitalized on four Bartenstein unforced errors to break for 5-all, before rallying for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Four seeds advanced to the men's singles semifinals: No. 1 Mitchell Frank of Virginia, No. 4 Eric Quigley of Kentucky, No. 5 Henrique Cunha of Duke and No. 8 Dennis Nevolo of Illinois. While Frank, Quigley and Cunha enjoyed straightforward, straight-set quarterfinal wins, Nevolo's passing shots were put to the test by the net rushing of Georgia Tech's Kevin King. King clinched a break-less first set with a crosscourt backhand winner at 6-5 in the tiebreak. Nevolo quickly bounced back to take the second set, saving a break point in the final game with a crosscourt backhand winner of his own. It was a sign of strokes to come. Having fallen behind 1-3 in the third, Nevolo broke King two straight times with stirring passing shot winners, including a crosscourt backhand for 4-3 that he hit from closer to the backdrop than the baseline. "In the third set, I got this weird feeling that we were both competing so well," said Nevolo, who clinched a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 win with an ace. "In a way, I thought that if I lost I wouldn't have felt too bad. I still wanted to win really badly, but it was good tennis and a good match. It definitely had a special feel to it."
In doubles play, the top-ranked men's and women's teams in the country were upset within minutes of one another.
Florida's flashy duo of Billy Federhofer and Nassim Slilam got things started with a dramatic 9-7 victory over ITA All-American runners-up Kevin King and Juan Spir of Georgia Tech.
While the 5-foot-10 Federhofer flattened groundstrokes with two hands on both sides, the 5-foot-9 Slilam showed off a stylish one-handed backhand. The Gators needed every inch of the angles they created to undo the 6-foot-2 King and 6-foot-4 Spir.
Entering their second season as a team, Federhofer and Slilam have become such good friends that they finish each other's sentences.
"The whole match was basically about not giving them the same look," said Federhofer, "because once they know what you do, they..."
The Gators broke King to take a 5-4 lead, and held on to that advantage until Federhofer served for the match at 7-6.
Five times, Florida came within two points of victory on Federhofer's serve. But with the left-handed King returning on the deuce court, the Gators failed to reach match point and were finally broken when Federhofer netted a short forehand.
"King didn't miss one return, and usually I at least get some misses," said Federhofer. "Every time we'd be in a rally, they're so big that they would just cross. There were also a few shots that I missed."
With Spir serving at 7-7, the Gators earned a break point when Slilam dug out a volley from his feet to set Federhofer up for an inside-out backhand pass winner. They broke Spir for the first time in the match when King's left foot touched the net as he stretched for a volley.
On their second opportunity to serve for a semifinal spot, the Gators clinched the match behind four Slilam service winners.
Federhofer and Slilam have now won eight consecutive matches dating back to their title run at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships.
"We know exactly what each other likes," said Federhofer. "Maybe we don't have the biggest serves or the biggest volleys, but we know exactly what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are. We help each other out by using our strengths all the time."
In women's doubles, 2010 tournament finalists Josipa Bek and Keri Wong of Clemson were undone 8-6 by USC sophomore Kaitlyn Christian and freshman Sabrina Santamaria. The Trojans played doubles together "pretty much our whole junior career," said Christian.
Against the Tigers, it showed.
"They are a very good team," said Christian. "We just tried to be aggressive and take over the net. I think that was the key: us rushing the net before they did. And it worked."
In all, four women from USC qualified for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships -- none of whom are seniors. For the freshman Santamaria, it's been no experience, no problem.
"I was a little nervous, but those nerves went away as soon as we started playing," said Santamaria. "I'm lucky to have one of the best doubles players in the country as my partner." Also advancing to the doubles semifinals were the ITA Men's All-American champions Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola of Ohio State and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American winners Mallory Burdette and Nicole Gibbs (Stanford), who were granted the No. 1 seed based on that performance. For live scores, updated draws and player bios from the 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, visit tournament central at ITAtennis.com. Access to an exclusive live chat throughout the tournament is available at USTA.com. 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Flushing, N.Y. Surface: Hard-Indoor
Friday, November 4 - RESULTS
Men's Singles - Main Draw Quarterfinals [1] Mitchell Frank (Virginia) def. Costin Paval (Oklahoma) 6-0, 6-2 [5] Henrique Cunha (Duke) def. Evan King (Michigan) 6-2, 6-3 [4] Eric Quigley (Kentucky) def. Haig Schneiderman (Columbia) 6-1, 6-2 [8] Dennis Nevolo (Illinois) def. Kevin King (Georgia Tech) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4
Women's Singles - Main Draw Quarterfinals [5-8] Denise Dy (Washington) def. [1] Jana Juricova (California) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. [4] Mallory Burdette (Stanford) 6-3, 6-1 Joanna Mather (Florida) def. Lauren McHale (North Carolina) 6-3, 6-1 [2] Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) def. Anna Bartenstein (Miami) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
Men's Singles - Main Draw Second Round [1] Mitchell Frank (Virginia) def. Alex Musialek (Kentucky) 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 Costin Paval (Oklahoma) def. Remi Boutillier (Fresno State) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 Evan King (Michigan) def. [3] Blaz Rola (Ohio State) 7-5, 7-5 [5] Henrique Cunha (Duke) def. Ryan Thacher (Stanford) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 Haig Schneiderman (Columbia) def. [6] Chase Buchanan (Ohio State) 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 [4] Eric Quigley (Kentucky) def. Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 [8] Dennis Nevolo (Illinois) def. Jose Hernandez (North Carolina) 6-3, 7-6(5) Kevin King (Georgia Tech) def. Christopher Aumueller (Nebraska) 6-3, 6-1
Women's Singles - Main Draw Second Round [1] Jana Juricova (California) def. Zoe Scandalis (USC) 6-3, 6-3 [5-8] Denise Dy (Washington) def. Emily Fraser (Virginia) 6-2, 6-2 [4] Mallory Burdette (Stanford) def. Kristi Boxx (Ole Miss) 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. [5-8] Lauren Embree (Florida) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 Lauren McHale (North Carolina) def. Diana Nakic (Baylor) 6-4, 6-4 Joanna Mather (Florida) def. [3] Chelsey Gullickson (Georgia) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Anna Bartenstein (Miami) def. Aeriel Ellis (Texas) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 [2] Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) def. Danielle Lao (USC) 6-2, 6-3
Men's Doubles - Main Draw Quarterfinals B. Federhofer/N. Slilam (Florida) def. [1] K. King/J. Spir (Georgia Tech) 9-7 [3] C. Marsland/A. Watling (Tulsa) def. S. Bernstein/E. King (Michigan) 8-6 [4] N. Andrews/C. Konigsfeldt (California) def. C. Hansen/L. Loeffler (Valdosta State) 8-4 [2] C. Buchanan/B. Rola (Ohio State) def. H. Cunha/C. Mengel (Duke) 8-6
Women's Doubles - Main Draw Quarterfinals [1] M. Burdette/N. Gibbs (Stanford) def. N. Pluskota/K. Szekely (Tennessee) 8-5 [3] K. Frilling/S. Mathews (Notre Dame) def. B. Capra/E. Goldfeld (Duke) 8-5 [4] N. Hamilton/L. Mushrefova (Northwestern) def. A. Kelleher/O. Khmylev (Boston College) 8-4 K. Christian/S. Santamaria (USC) def. [2] J. Bek/K. Wong (Clemson) 8-6
Men's Singles - Consolation First Round [1] Wil Spencer (Georgia) def. Jamie Whiteford (William & Mary) 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 Chris Mengel (Duke) def. Andreas Mies (Auburn) 3-6, 7-6(4) 7-5 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Lucas Jovita (Rollins) 6-1, 6-2 Kyle McMorrow (Washington) def. Roy Kalmanovich (Illinois) 7-5, 6-3 Sadio Doumbia (Georgia) def. Tsvetan Mihov (Oklahoma) 6-1, 7-6(3) Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. Damian Hume (Boise State) 6-3, 6-4 Vasko Mladenov (St. John's) def. Alexis Klegou (Texas A&M) 6-4, 6-2 [2] Gonzalo Escobar (Texas Tech) def. Finn Tearney (Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-4
Women's Singles - Consolation First Round [1] Beatrice Capra (Duke) def. Natalie Pluskota (Tennessee) 6-1, 6-2 Sam Vickers (Tulsa) def. Bianca Sanon (Columbia) 6-4, 6-2 Petra Niedermayerova (Kansas State) def. Sabrina Santamaria (USC) 6-4, 6-1 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (Texas A&M) def. Mary Anne Macfarlane (Alabama) 7-5, 6-3 Ana Veselinovic (Auburn Montgomery) def. Nicole Bartnik (Columbia) 7-6(5) ret. Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. Jackie Wu (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 6-2 Cristina Stancu (Maryland) def. Emina Bektas (Michigan) 6-2, 6-3 Aleksandra Josifoska (UNLV) def. [2] Kristy Frilling (Notre Dame) 6-4, 6-4
Men's Doubles - Consolation Quarterfinals M. Siow/M. Spindler (Princeton) def. [1] J. Collins/M. Horny (Maryland) 9-7 C. Cueto/B. McLachlan (California) def. C. Camillone/D. Holiner (Texas) 8-3 N. Gery/W. Lin (Columbia) def. N. Bubnic/T. Visy (San Diego) 8-6 [2] C. Aumueller/B. Lindheim (Nebraska) def. J. Backstrom/J. Lutjen (Ole Miss) 8-5
Women's Doubles - Consolation Quarterfinals R. Anderson/S. Morton (UCLA) def. [1] L. Embree/J. Mather (Florida) w/o M. Nichols/O. Smith (TCU) def. N. Bartnik/C. Leung (Columbia) 8-6 K. Boxx/A. Guthrie (Ole Miss) def. M. Huet/W. Ritchie (Oklahoma) 9-7 [2] A. Guarachi/M. Macfarlane (Alabama) def. C. Gullickson/L. Kimbell (Georgia) 8-4
Men's Doubles - Back Draw P. Anderson/J. Phillips (New Mexico) def. M. Libietis/H. Reese (Tennessee) 8-5 L. Cant/M. Stropp (Mississippi State) def. M. Cirstea/A. Dobbs (Idaho) 8-3
Women's Doubles - Back Draw V. Popovici/S. Synkova (Wyoming) def. A. Belzunce/W. Luus (Maryland) 8-5 K. Duncan/K. Talbert (Wake Forest) def. K. Cartwright/A. Leitz (Tyler Junior College) 8-2 |
