What’s that old saying about saving the best for last – Columbia and Stanford sure didn’t disappoint in the excitement department by bringing the house down at the USTA National Tennis Center in one of the final regionals of the 2016 ITA Kick-Off Weekend. These matches were originally scheduled to be played at Columbia’s Dick Savitt Tennis Center but because of worries about the weight of the snow on the roof it was moved to the USTA NTC.
Going into the match I figured Columbia had to get the doubles point to have a realistic shot because I didn’t see them taking 4 singles matches from Stanford but that’s just what they did.
Stanford came out ready to go in doubles and went up early breaks at #2 and #3. Just one day removed from a 6-0 loss to Minnesota, Stanford’s #3 team of David Wilczynski and Yale Goldberg jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and cruised to a 6-2 win. Stanford’s #2 team of Tom Fawcett and Sameer Kumar broke early to go up 2-1 but Columbia’s Mike Vermeer and Michal Rolski had a chance to get the match back on serve when Kumar served at 4-3, 15-40. Kumar and Fawcett took the next 3 points to get the hold with Columbia’s best chance coming at 30-40 when Rolski let a floater at the net drop instead of taking it out of the air and his chip return was ultimately blasted past him for a winner. Fawcett served it out from 5-4 to clinch the doubles point for the Cardinal.
Stanford didn’t let off the gas in singles as Tom Fawcett, David Wilczynski, Maciek Romanowicz, and Sameer Kumar took the opening sets at 1, 2, 3, and 6 while Mike Vermeer and Richard Pham went up a set at 4 and 5 for Columbia.
Mike Vermeer was the first off the court as he rolled past Nolan Paige 6-4, 6-0 at #4. Vermeer broke Paige’s 3-3 service game in the opening set and then consolidated the break for a 5-3 lead. Paige held serve to cut the deficit to 4-5* but Vermeer proceed to serve out the set and take the next 6 games after that to close out Paige in straight sets.
Tom Fawcett put Stanford back ahead 2-1 when he blew past Shawn Hadavi 6-2, 6-2 at #1 singles. Fawcett sprinted out to a quick 4-1 lead in the first set and broke Hadavi for a second time to close out the opening set. The second set followed the same script with Fawcett getting an early and late break to finish off the 6-2, 6-2 win.
Stanford freshman Sameer Kumar made it 3-1 Cardinal when he closed out Columbia freshman Tim Wang 6-4, 6-4. Kumar went up an early break in the opening set but Wang broke back to even it at 3-3. Kumar would return the favor and break for *4-3 and then hold to make it 5-3*. Wang held for 4-5* but Kumar quickly held to take the set. In the second set Kumar went up an early break and made the lead hold up to get the 6-4, 6-4 win.
Stanford had to be feeling good with a 3-1 lead and up a set on 2 of the 3 remaining courts but Columbia’s guys would continue to fight and slowly chip away at the deficit.
Richard Pham put Columbia’s second point on the board when he closed out Stanford freshman Michael Genender 6-3, 6-4 at #4 singles. Pham broke Genender’s 3-4 service game in the opening set then served it out to take it 6-3. Pham went up an early break in the second set and made it hold up by serving it out from 5-4 to win it 6-3, 6-4
Columbia’s Eric Rubin started his comeback at #3 when he broke Stanford’s Maciek Romanowicz to go up 5-4 in the second set and then he held on the deciding point (40-40) to take it 6-4. Rubin immediately broke Romanowicz to start the third set then consolidated the break by holding from the deciding point to go up 2-0. Romanowicz’s last real chance came when Rubin was serving up 3-2, 40-40 but Rubin got the hold and then proceeded to break and hold to win it 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
So it was all square at 3-3 with the last match on court at #2 between Stanford sophomore David Wilczynski and Columbia freshman Victor Pham. Wilczynski got the only break of the first set when he broke Pham on the deciding point to go up 5-3 and then promptly held serve to take the opening set 6-3. Wilczynski broke Pham to start the second set but Pham immediately broke back and then held to go up 2-1. Pham would break again and then hold for 4-1* but Wilczynski came back with a hold and break of his own to put it back on serve at *3-4. After 3 straight holds, Pham found himself facing a break point when serving at 5-5, 40-40. Pham managed to get the hold to go up 6-5* but Wilczynski held to force a tiebreak. Wilczynski would go up a mini-break and lead *5-4 but he lost both points on his serve and then Pham took the next one to take the second set tiebreak 7-5.
The third set opened with 3 consecutive breaks with Pham getting 2 of those to go up *2-1. Pham held for 3-1 then broke again to go up 4-1* so with a double break lead things were looking pretty good for Columbia. With the way this match was going you just knew it wouldn’t end that easily and sure enough it didn’t because Pham starting cramping pretty badly and in a matter of 10 minutes he went from serving up *4-1 to receiving at 4-4. Wilczynski went up 40-15 but after a few loose errors he ended up getting broke though he thought he hit an ace on the deciding point but it was called out and confirmed by the chair. Pham was now serving for the match up 5-4 and went up 40-30 despite hitting a few underhand serves due to the cramps (the ones served normally were only going about 30 mph). Wilczynski finally got a few balls back in play and forced Pham to move more and got him to make 2 quick errors which put it back on serve at 5-5. Pham quickly broke back only to see Wilczynski quickly return the favor and it was off to a tiebreak to decide the match.
Pham went up an early mini-break and would stretch his lead to 5-2*. Wilczynski cut it to *3-5 but would double fault to give Pham three match points at *6-3. Pham didn’t waste any time and converted on his first attempt to take it 3-6, 7-5(5), 7-6(3). Columbia has now qualified for National Team Indoors for the second consecutive season.
For those that were following me on twitter during the match I apologize for making a few scoring errors. There was only 1 court that had streaming video and it was 2 courts down from the court Pham/Wilczynski played on so I could only see a portion of the court. I also missed a couple of games so I thought it was 2-1 in the third when it was actually 4-1.
Thanks, to Rob E. for the scoring updates during the match.
A thrilling 4-3 win for @ColumbiaMTennis over @StanfordTennis at the #ITAKickoff! #RoarLionRoar pic.twitter.com/SPW84BVekS
Columbia Athletics (@GoColumbiaLions) January 25, 2016
“It was great of Whitney Kraft and the people at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center to open up the courts to us,” said Goswami. “It was also an incredible job by all the staff at Columbia to make sure the event got under way.”
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In the final match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Tennessee put itself in prime position to take the doubles point over Wake Forest after winning at #2 and having leads at #1 and #3. Tennessee’s #1 team led 5-2 but ended up losing 7-6(0) while its #3 team led 5-3 and served for the match twice up 5-4 and 6-5 but ended up losing 7-6(4).
Any chance Tennessee had went out the window with the doubles point and Wake just blew them off the court in singles. Wake took all six opening sets and then picking up straight set wins from Petros Chrysochos, Dennis Uspensky, and Christian Seraphim with Chrysochos clinching.
Note: The doubles portion took 1 hour and 17 minutes; the singles portion 58 minutes.
Wake Forest blanks No. 43 Tennessee, 4-0, to win its #ITAKickoff region! #GoDeacs pic.twitter.com/NHFtWeS1uk
Wake Men’s Tennis (@WakeMTennis) January 25, 2016
#11 Wake Forest 4, #43 Tennessee 0
“We did a good job of getting ahead in doubles, but we have to learn to finish,” Tennessee head coach Sam Winterbotham said. “This team is still learning that it’s what college tennis is all about. You play with a spirit that is brave, not a spirit that is timid. The best teams are the teams with the best spirit. We’ll learn, but we have to learn quickly.”
National Team Indoors Field (1/20 rankings)
#1 Virginia (host)
#2 Oklahoma
#3 TCU
#4 Baylor
#5 Texas A&M
#6 Georgia
#7 Illinois
#8 USC
#9 Ohio State
#10 North Carolina
#11 Wake Forest
#12 UCLA
#13 South Florida
#15 Texas Tech
#16 Columbia
#19 San Diego
If the 1/20 rankings were used these would be the Round of 16 matches:
[1] Virginia vs. [16] San Diego
[8] USC vs. [9] Ohio State
[5] Texas A&M vs. [12] UCLA
[4] Baylor vs. [13] South Florida
[3] TCU vs. [14] Texas Tech
[6] Georgia vs. [11] Wake Forest
[7] Illinois vs. [10] North Carolina
[2] Oklahoma vs. [15] Columbia
I wouldn’t expect to see any changes in the positioning of the qualifiers THIS WEEK however many of these teams have some big time matches in the next 2 weeks and based off those results there will be some changes. Below are the notable upcoming matches that these 16 teams have in the next 2 weeks (didn’t include UCLA at Virginia on 2/9 because it’ll be after the ranking cutoff)
#1 Virginia – #55 Kentucky (1/30)
#2 Oklahoma – #11 Wake Forest (1/31), at #63 Alabama (2/5), at #10 North Carolina (2/7)
#3 TCU – #18 Stanford (2/6 in Austin), #27 Cal (2/7 in Austin)
#4 Baylor – #5 Texas A&M (2/3), #17 Ole Miss (2/6)
#5 Texas A&M – at #4 Baylor (2/3), #31 Florida State (2/5), #13 South Florida (2/7)
#6 Georgia – at #12 UCLA (1/30), vs. #8 USC (1/31 at UCLA), #42 Georgia Tech (2/6)
#7 Illinois – at #23 Duke (1/29), at #10 North Carolina (1/30), #36 Notre Dame (2/5)
#8 USC – #21 Florida (1/30 at UCLA), #6 Georgia (1/31 at UCLA)
#9 Ohio State – #20 Texas (1/31), #14 Virginia Tech (2/7)
#10 North Carolina – #7 Illinois (1/30), #2 Oklahoma (2/7)
#11 Wake Forest – at #28 Oklahoma State (1/29), at #2 Oklahoma (1/31), #51 South Carolina (2/5)
#12 UCLA – #6 Georgia (1/30), #21 Florida (1/31), #19 San Diego (2/5)
#13 South Florida – at #22 Minnesota (2/5), at #5 Texas A&M (2/7)
#15 Texas Tech – none (no offense Clemson)
#16 Columbia – North Florida (1/30)
#19 San Diego – at #12 UCLA (2/5)
Prediction Record from the K-O Weekend:
Friday: 3-1 (had Tulsa winning 4-3/Northwestern won 4-1)
Saturday: 22-1 (had South Carolina winning 4-1; Denver won 4-3)
Sunday: 14-1 (had Duke winning 4-3/San Diego won 4-2)
Monday: 1-1 (had Stanford winning 4-1/Columbia won 4-3)
Totals: 40-4 (.91)
2nd Round (Regional Finals)
[1] Columbia def. [3] Stanford 4-3 (3rd set TB)
[1] Wake Forest def. [2] Tennessee 4-0
2nd Round (Consolation)
[4] Auburn def. [3] Cal Poly 4-3
Minnesota & Virginia Tech didn’t play a consolation match
2nd Round (Regional Finals)
[1] TCU def. [2] Oklahoma State 4-3 (6-3 in 3rd)
[1] Texas A&M def. [3] Boise State 4-0
[1] Oklahoma def. [3] Troy 4-0
[1] UCLA def. [3] Georgia Tech 4-0
[1] Ohio State def. [3] Denver 4-0
[1] North Carolina def. [3] NC State 4-2
[2] San Diego def. [1] Duke 4-2
[1] Baylor def. [2] Oregon 4-2 (Final 2 courts were 3rd set TBs)
[1] South Florida def. [3] LSU 4-0
[3] Texas Tech def. [4] Florida 4-3 (7-5 in 3rd)
[1] Georgia def. [3] Memphis 4-1
2nd Round (Consolation)
[2] Drake def. [4] Indiana 4-2
[4] Wichita State def. [2] South Carolina 4-2
[3] Harvard def. [4] San Diego State 4-3
[4] SMU def. [2] New Mexico 4-0
[4] UC Santa Barbara def. [2] Louisville 4-3
[2] Ole Miss def. [1] Texas 4-3
[4] UC Irvine def. [3] Old Dominion 4-0
[4] Florida State def. [2] Mississippi State 4-1
[4] Utah State def. [2] UTSA 4-0
[4] Fresno State def. [2] San Francisco 4-3
1st Round:
[1] Columbia def. [4] Minnesota 4-0
[3] Stanford def [2] Virginia Tech 4-0
[1] Wake Forest def. [4] Auburn 4-1
[2] Tennessee def. [3] Cal Poly 4-2
SATURDAY RESULTS
[1] Texas A&M def. [4] Fresno State 4-0
[1] Oklahoma def. [4] Utah State 4-0
[1] UCLA def [4] SMU 4-0
[1] Georgia def. [4] UC Santa Barbara 4-0
[1] Ohio State def. [4] Wichita State 4-0
[1] North Carolina def. [4] Indiana 4-1
[1] Baylor def. [4] UC Irvine 4-1
[1] South Florida def. [4] Florida State 4-3 (6-1 in 3rd)
[4] Florida def. [1] Texas 4-0
[3] Memphis def. [2] Louisville 4-0
[3] Denver def. [2] South Carolina 4-3 (3rd Set TB)
[3] Texas Tech def. [2] Ole Miss 4-0
[3] Boise State def. [2] San Francisco 4-3 (6-2 in 3rd)
[3] Georgia Tech def. [2] New Mexico 4-0
[3] Troy def. [2] UTSA 4-0
[3] LSU def. [2] Mississippi State 4-1
[3] NC State def. [2] Drake 4-2
[2] San Diego def. [3] Vanderbilt 4-0
[2] Oklahoma State def. [3] Harvard 4-0
[2] Oregon def. [3] Old Dominion 4-1
2nd Round (Winners Match)
[1] Illinois def. [2] Northwestern 4-0
2nd Round (Consolation Match)
[4] UC Davis def. [2] Pepperdine 4-3
[3] Tulsa def. [4] Notre Dame 4-3
FRIDAY RESULTS
1st Round:
[1] Illinois def. [4] Notre Dame 4-0
[3] Tulane def. [2] Pepperdine 4-0
[2] Northwestern def. [3] Tulsa 4-1
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