The second day of the NCAA Singles Championship saw a slew of seeds get shown the door. In the women’s draw only 5 of the top 16 seeds remain after 6 lost on Monday with the No. 4 seed Georgia’s Katarina Jokic the highest seed to fall. In the men’s draw 8 of the top 16 remain after 3 were knocked out on Monday with the No. 3 seed Texas A&M’s Hady Habib and the No. 5 seed Florida’s Duarte Vale the two highest to fall.
North Carolina fifth-year senior William Blumberg became the first-ever 10-time ITA All-American after he advanced to the Round of 16 in the men’s singles and doubles draws. Blumberg dispatched the No. 3 seed Hady Habib in straight sets and will next meet Kentucky’s Gabriel Diallo for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Both of the top overall seeds advanced on Monday with Kentucky’s Liam Draxl coming back from 3-0 down in the final set to defeat Notre Dame’s Axel Nefve while UNC’s Sara Daavettila won in straight sets over Georgia’s Lea Ma.
Below I have some notes from each quarter of the draw along with Tuesday’s schedule
NCAA Men’s Singles – Round 2
[1] Liam Draxl, Kentucky, def. Axel Nefve, Notre Dame 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
[9-16] Adam Walton, Tennessee, def. Zeke Clark, Illinois 7-6(6), 6-4
[8] Gabriel Decamps, UCF, def. Andy Andrade, Florida 6-1, 6-4
[9-16] Luc Fomba, TCU def. Giovanni Oradini, Mississippi State 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
- Notes from Draxl’s Quarter:
- Draxl/Nefve – Nefve led 3-0* in the third set and then was serving 3-1 (40/0) but Draxl came back to break. Draxl won 5 straight games from 0-3 down to go up 5-3; Nefve fought off 2 match points to hold for 4-5 but Draxl served it out from 40/30 with a pair of aces in the game
- Walton/Clark – There were 6 breaks of serve in the first set (3 by each); Clark led the TB 5-2 and had 2 set points while serving at 6-4 before Walton won the next 4 points; in the second set there were 3 breaks in a row with Walton getting 2 of them; there were no break points after that 3-game sequence
- Decamps/Andrade – Decamps broke Andrade twice in the first set with both coming on a deciding point; Andrade led *3-1 in the second set before Decamps reeled off 4 straight games; after Andrade held at love for 4-5 Decamps served it out from 40/30
- Fomba/Oradini – Fomba won all 3 games in the first set that went to a deciding point; there was only 1 break in the second set and that came when Oradini broke Fomba’s 3-4 service on the deciding point; Fomba fought off 2 break points to start the third set and then broke Oradini on the deciding point for 2-0 – never looked back from there
[4] Valentin Vacherot, Texas A&M def. Riley Smith, USC, 6-1, 6-2
Rinky Hijikata, UNC def. Eduardo Nava, Wake Forest, 7-6(2), 6-4
[6] Sam Riffice, Florida, def. Andres Martin, Georgia Tech 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
Siphosothando Montsi, Illinois def. [9-16] Finn Reynolds, Ole Miss, 6-4, 7-6(4)
- Notes from Vacherot’s Quarter:
- Vacherot/Smith – Vacherot wasn’t broken and only faced 1 break point in the match
- Hijikata/Nava – There were no breaks in the first set; Hijikata led the TB 5-1 on the changeover; there were 3 breaks in the second set – 2 by Hijikata and 1 by Nava; Hijikata broke Nava’s 4-5 service game from 30/40 to win it
- Riffice/Martin – In the first set Riffice had 3 of his 4 service games to go the deciding point and he lost them all; Riffice won 12 of 15 points on Martin’s service in the third set
- Montsi/Reynolds – The only break of the first set came when Montsi broke Reynolds’s 2-2 service game from 30/40; Reynolds led 5-2* in the second set and had a set point when serving at 5-3 (40/40) but Montsi broke and then held at love for 5-5; Montsi won the first 4 points in the TB and the closest it got after that was 5-3*
Adrian Boitan, Baylor def. Florian Broska, Mississippi State 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
August Holmgren, San Diego def. [5] Duarte Vale, Florida 4-6, 7-6, 6-2
[9-16] Gabriel Diallo, Kentucky def. Martim Prata, Tennessee 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
William Blumberg, North Carolina def. [3] Hady Habib, Texas A&M, 7-5, 6-2
- Notes from Habib’s Quarter:
- Boitan/Broska – Boitan broke Broska from 15/40 to go ahead 2-1 in the third and then broke him again from 15/40 to make it 4-1; Boitan was broken twice in the first set but only faced two break points over the final two sets
- Holmgren/Vale – The only break of the first set came when Vale broke Holmgren’s 2-2 service game on the deciding point; Vale led 2-0* in the second set after a deciding point break and a deciding point hold; Holmgren got it back on serve after breaking Vale’s 4-3 service game from 15/40; Holmgren won the first 5 points in the second set TB and took it 7-1; Holmgren broke Vale on the deciding point to start the third set and broke him again at love to go up 5-2; Holmgren finished the match by winning the last 12 points
- Diallo/Prata – The only break of the first set came when Prata broke Diallo’s 4-5 service game on the deciding point; Diallo held at love in 3 of his 4 service game in the second set while breaking Prata twice; Diallo broke Prata to start the third set and broke him again to go up 5-1 before serving it out at love
- Blumberg/Habib – Blumberg broke Habib at love to go up 6-5 in the first set and then held from 40/15 to take the set (3 aces in the service game); Blumberg led *3-0 in the second set and despite Habib pulling to within *3-2 he wouldn’t win another game
Alexis Galarneau, NC State def. Adria Soriano Barrera, Miami (FL), 6-1, 6-0
Aleksandar Kovacevic, Illinois def. Eliot Spizzirri, Texas, 6-1, 6-3
Daniel Cukierman, USC def. Matej Vocel, Oklahoma State, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
[2] Daniel Rodrigues, South Carolina def. Jacob Wojcik, South Fla, 6-3, 6-0
- Notes from Rodrigues’s Quarter:
- Galarneau/Soriano Barrera – Galarneau broke Soriano Barrera at love 3 times
- Kovacevic/Spizzirri – Kovacevic didn’t lose a singles point on serve in the first set; in the second set Kovacevic served for the match up 5-2 but Spizzirri broke him for the only time of the match however Kovacevic broke back from 30/40 to win it
- Cukierman/Vocel – the third set stayed on serve until Cukierman broke Vocel’s 2-3 service game at love; Vocel broke Cukierman back on the deciding point and then held for 4-4; Cukierman held from 40/30 to go up 5-4 and then he broke Vocel on the deciding point to win it after Vocel had led 40/15
- Rodrigues/Wojcik – in the first set Rodrigues broke Wojcik’s 3-3 service game from 15/40 then he broke Wojcik’s 3-5 service game from 15/40 to take the set; Rodrigues won the final 9 games in the match
- Longest Men’s Matches
- 2 hours 31 minutes (Holmgren/Vale)
- 2 hours 2 minutes (Draxl/Nefve)
- 1 hour 56 minutes (Walton/Clark)
- 1 hour 50 minutes (Cukierman/Vocel)
- 1 hour 49 minutes (Hijikata/Nava)
- 1 hour 43 minutes (Riffice/Martin)
- 1 hour 42 minutes (Boitan/Broska)
- Shortest Men’s Matches
- 52 minutes (Kovacevic/Spizzirri)
- 58 minutes (Galarneau/Soriano Barrera)
- 1 hour 6 minutes (Vacherot/Smith & Rodrigues/Wojcik)
- 1 hour 24 minutes (Blumberg/Habib)
Men’s Round of 16 Schedule (Times ET)
[1] Liam Draxl, Kentucky, vs. [9-16] Adam Walton, Tennessee, (12:00 pm)
[8] Gabriel Decamps, UCF, vs. [9-16] Luc Fomba, TCU (12:00 pm)
[4] Valentin Vacherot, Texas A&M vs. Rinky Hijikata, UNC (1:30 pm)
[6] Sam Riffice, Florida, vs. Siphosothando Montsi, Illinois (12:00 pm)
Adrian Boitan, Baylor vs. August Holmgren, San Diego (1:30 pm)
[9-16] Gabriel Diallo, Kentucky vs. William Blumberg, North Carolina (12:00 pm)
Alexis Galarneau, NC State vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic, Illinois (12:00 pm)
[2] Daniel Rodrigues, South Carolina vs. Daniel Cukierman, USC (12:00 pm)
NCAA Women’s Singles – Round 2
[1] Sara Daavettila, North Carolina def. Lea Ma, Georgia, 6-4, 6-4
Jessica Failla, Pepperdine def. Yulia Starodubsteva, Old Dominion 6-0, 6-0
Kelly Chen, Duke def. [8] McCartney Kessler, Florida 6-4, 6-4
Christina Rosca, Vanderbilt def. [9-16] Isabella Pfennig, Miami (FL) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
- Notes from Daavettila’s Quarter:
- Daavettila/Ma – Ma led 3-1* in the first set; Daavettila was serving 1-3 (0/30) and then she won the next 12 points and 16 of the next 17 to take a 5-3 lead; Ma broke Daavettila at love to put it back on serve at 5-4 but Daavettila broke back at love to take the set 6-4; Ma led *2-0 in the second set then Daavettila won the next 3 to go up *3-2; Ma got it back on serve but Daavettila broke from 15/40 to win it.
- Failla/Starodubsteva – Failla only faced 1 break point in the match and won all 3 games that went to a deciding point
- Chen/Kessler – There were 5 straight breaks to start the match and then Kessler held for 4-2; Chen fought off 2 break point to hold for 3-4 and then won the next 3 games to take the set 6-4 (Kessler had 5 double faults in first set); the second set had 3 straight holds to start the set and then finished with 7 straight breaks
- Rosca/Pfennig – 5 of the first 6 games in the opening set went to a deciding point with the server winning all 5; Pfennig broke Rosca’s 2-2 and 2-4 service games; in the second set there were only 2 holds with Rosca getting them both; the final set only had 1 break with Rosca breaking Pfennig’s 2-3 service game from 30/40
[3] Emma Navarro, Virginia def. Ilze Hattingh, Arizona State, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0
Meg Kowalski, Georgia def. [9-16] Katarina Kozarov, Furman, 7-5, 6-4
Selin Ovunc, Auburn def. Bronte Murgett, Missouri 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
Paris Corley, LSU def. [9-16] Alexa Noel, Iowa, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
Notes from Navarro’s Quarter:
- Navarro/Hattingh – Hattingh broke Navarro 4 times in the first set; in the second set Navarro broke Hattingh’s 5-5 service game from 30/40 and then served out the set at love; in the final set Navarro only dropped 2 points on her serve while she won 12 of 17 points on Hattingh’s serve.
- Kowalski/Kozarov – Kozarov led *4-2 in the first set then Kowalski broke, held, and broke to go ahead *5-4; after an exchange of breaks Kowalski served out the set from 40/15 (Kowalski won 2 of 3 deciding points in the first set); Kowalski jumped out to a double break 3-0 lead in the second set but Kozarov got them both back – one on Kowalski’s 3-0 service game and the other on her 4-3 service game; Kowalski broke back from 30/40 and then after falling behind 15/40 won the next 3 points to close it out on the deciding point
- Ovunc/Murgett – Murgett broke Ovunc 3 times in the first set and won 3 of the 5 games that went to a deciding point; Murgett led *4-2 in the second set but Ovunc broke and held for 4-4; after an exchange of holds Ovunc broke Murgett’s 5-5 service game from 30/40 and then she served out the set at love; Ovunc took a double break 3-0 lead in the third set and pulled away down the stretch with a hold on the deciding point to close it out
- Corley/Noel – Corley held on the deciding point to start the match then Noel ripped off 8 straight games to take a 6-1, 2-0 lead; Corley won the next 4 games and 6 of the next 7 to force a third set; Noel went up a break at 2-1 in the third but Corley immediately broke back; it stayed on serve until Corley broke for 5-3 and then Corley led 40/0 but Noel fought off 4 match points to break for 5-4; Noel held for 5-5 but then Corley held from 40/30 and broke Noel from 30/40 to win it.
[2] Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (FL) def. Peyton Stearns, Texas 6-2, 6-4
Alexa Graham, North Carolina def. [9-16] Natasha Subhash, Virginia, 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-1
[7] Abigail Forbes, UCLA def. Irina Cantos Siemers, Ohio State, 6-3, 6-4
Emma Antonaki, Mississippi State def. Mia Horvit, South Carolina 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4
Notes from Perez-Somarriba’s Quarter:
- Perez-Somarriba/Stearns – Perez-Somarriba broke Stearns to start off the match and broke her again for 5-2; in the second set Perez-Somarriba broke in the opening game but Stearns would get it back on serve at 3-3; Perez-Somarriba broke for 4-3 and then she fought off 2 break points to hold for 5-3; Perez-Somarriba served it out with a hold on the deciding point
- Graham/Subhash – Subhash served for the first set up 5-2 but Graham won 4 straight to go up 6-5; Subhash held at love to force a tiebreak; the TB was even at 3-3 at the changeover but Subhash went up 6-4 and took it 8-6; Graham controlled the final 2 sets winning 12 of the final 13 games – she did have 3 of her service games reach the deciding point
- Forbes/Cantos Siemers – There were 6 breaks in the opening set (Forbes had 4 and Cantos Siemers had 2; the second set had 8 breaks and only 3 holds – Forbes had 2 of the holds and 4 of the breaks
- Antonaki/Horvit – Antonaki led *4-0 in the opening set and had 2 games points for 5-0 but Horvit broke and then broke two more times to go ahead *6-5; Antonaki broke from 30/40 to force a tiebreak but Horvit opened up a 4-0 lead in the TB and took it 7-2; there were 7 breaks of serve in the second set (Antonaki had 4 and Horvit had 3); Antonaki came back from 15/40 down to serve out the set; Antonaki never trailed in the third set – she did give an early break back but broke to go ahead 4-3; Antonaki came back from 15/40 down to hold for 5-3 and then 2 games later served out the match from 40/15
Janice Tjen, Oregon def. [4] Katarina Jokic, Georgia, 6-1, 6-4
Georgia Drummy, Duke def. Kari Miller, Michigan, 6-2, 6-4
[6] Anna Rogers, NC State def. Ayana Akli, Maryland 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, Oklahoma State def. Anna Campana, Wake Forest 7-5, 6-2
Notes from Jokic’s Quarter:
- Tjen/Jokic – Tjen won all 3 games in the first set that went to a deciding point; in the second set there was only 1 service hold and 9 breaks; Tjen earned the only hold to go ahead 5-4 and then she broke Jokic on the deciding point to close it out
- Drummy/Miller – Miller held serve to start the match then Drummy won the next 5 games; Drummy opened up a 5-1 lead in the second set before Miller made a late charge with a hold, break, and hold to pull within *5-4; Drummy fought off two break points to close it out on the deciding point
- Rogers/Akli – Akli held serve to start the match then Rogers won the next 5 games; in the second set Akli broke Rogers’s 4-5 service game from 30/40 to take the set; Rogers went up *4-1 in the third set and despite giving one break back she’d hold the rest of the way
- Thamchaiwat/Campana – 9 of the 12 games in the first set ended with breaks of serve; Campana led 4-2 then Thamchaiwat won 3 straight to go up 5-4; Thamchaiwat served for the set up 40/0 but Campana came back to break for 5-5; Thamchaiwat broke back from 15/40 and then served out the opening set from 40/30; in the second set Thamchaiwat broke Campana for 3-2 after Campana double faulted on the deciding point; Thamchaiwat won the final 4 games of the match with the last 2 games coming down to a deciding point
- Longest Women’s Matches
- 2 hours 48 minutes (Antonaki/Horvit)
- 2 hours 28 minutes (Corley/Noel)
- 2 hours 21 minutes (Rosca/Pfennig)
- 2 hours 17 minutes (Graham/Subhash)
- 2 hours 6 minutes (Navarro/Hattingh)
- 2 hours 5 minutes (Rogers/Akli)
- 2 hours 3 minutes (Kowalski/Kozarov)
- 2 hours 0 minutes (Thamchaiwat/Campana)
- Shortest Women’s Matches
- 1 hour 8 minutes (Failla/Starodubsteva)
- 1 hour 9 minutes (Drummy/Miller)
- 1 hour 22 minutes (Tjen/Jokic)
- 1 hour 24 minutes (Forbes/Cantos Siemers)
Women’s Round of 16 Schedule – Times ET
[1] Sara Daavettila, North Carolina vs. Jessica Failla, Pepperdine (12:00 pm)
Kelly Chen, Duke (10:00 am) vs. Christina Rosca, Vanderbilt (12:00 pm)
[3] Emma Navarro, Virginia vs. Meg Kowalski, Georgia (12:00 pm)
Selin Ovunc, Auburn vs. Paris Corley, LSU (1:30 pm)
[2] Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (FL) vs. Alexa Graham, North Carolina (12:00 pm)
[7] Abigail Forbes, UCLA vs. Emma Antonaki, Mississippi State (12:00 pm)
Janice Tjen, Oregon vs. Georgia Drummy, Duke (1:30 pm)
[6] Anna Rogers, NC State vs. Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, Oklahoma State (12:00 pm)
You can follow the matches with the live scoring links (MEN & WOMEN) and streaming video via the TennisOne app.
Latest Comments