Georgia’s Helgeson wins singles, UVA doubles titles at Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships
TULSA, Okla. – Travis Helgeson from Georgia held off Robert Farah from USC, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday's singles final at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Meanwhile, No. 1 seeds Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey from Virginia survived to win the doubles title, beating Mississippi's Erling Tveit and Jonas Berg 6-2, 7-5 in the final.
Fourth-seeded Helgeson lost only two sets during his six-match title run this week. He is the second Bulldog in three years to win the All-American title; John Isner won the title in 2005, and made a final appearance in 2006. Helgeson had his work cut out for him: Farah, a qualifier, had won eight singles matches in six days, and five of his six main draw matches went to third sets. The match was delayed twice in the first set due to rain, which both Helgeson and Farah admitted helped the Bulldog more than the Trojan.
"He started out really solid and I was having some trouble with his backhand," Helgeson, who has earned ITA All-America honors each of the last three seasons , said after the match. "He's a great player. The (two) rain delays (in the first set) actually helped me a little. I think they slowed him down a little and gave me a chance to regroup. I was lucky to get a break in the first game of the second set and be able to break back again towards the end of the set. In the third set I felt I was a little fresher and could use my experience to my advantage. I was just proud to be in this match and really felt like I had nothing to lose."
"I started out playing pretty good, but the rain delays hurt my rhythm a little," said Farah, a sophomore from Cali, Columbia . "Going into the second, I started to feel really tired in my legs, and then when I got broken in the first game, I started to also feel mentally tired. I tried my best but he was just better."
The last time a qualifier made the finals was in 2001 when South Alabama's Kosta Zinchanka made it; the last time a qualifier won the title was in 1995 when Stanford's Ryan Wolters accomplished the feat.
In addition to Helgeson and Isner, Georgia's Al Parker (1989-90 and Mikael Pernfors (1984) have also won ITA All-American titles. Last season Helgeson, a senior from Overland, Kansas, helped Georgia to a perfect season and the NCAA team title. Farah was the first USC player since Scott Melville in 1987 to reach this final.
On the doubles side, Devvarman and Huey, No. 1 seeds and top-ranked team in the nation, became the first doubles team from the University of Virginia to win the title at ITA All-American. The only previous time that the Cavaliers had a doubles team in the final was in 2000, when Brian Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery made it before losing to Florida's Nathan Overholser and Olivier Levant. Berg and Tveit were the first Ole Miss duo to reach this final.
"We came out really strong," Huey said after the match. "We broke them twice in the first set and we were serving great. [Ole Miss] stepped up in the second and played really well. But we were able to hit some big shots at 5-5 and go up a break. From there, we continued to serve really well to close it out. We served great the whole tournament and that was a big key for us."
Berg and Tveit were playing in only their tenth match together as a team; the first time they paired up was to win the Baylor Invitational in September. Up against a doubles team that had four years of experience playing together, Mississippi had their work cut out for them.
"They were just the better team today," Berg said. "They played well and made a lot of returns. We knew we had to really play well to win, play every point well because they are so good and that puts a lot of pressure on you."
This event, administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), kicks off the 2007-08 collegiate tennis season and is the first of three national championships. The other national title opportunities this season are the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November and the season-ending NCAA Championships in May.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA, and the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings for men's and women's tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA website is www.itatennis.com.
Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships
University of Tulsa Michael D. Case Tennis Center
Tulsa, Okla. * October 7
Men's Singles - Championship:
Travis Helgeson, Georgia (4), def. Robert Farah, USC, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Men's Doubles - Championship:
Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey, Virginia (1), def. Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit, Mississippi, 6-2, 7-5.