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NCAA Singles Semifinals Recap: Perez-Somarriba Ends Tjen’s Terrific Run; Navarro Knocks Out Top Seed Daavettila; Riffice Upsets Draxl; Rodrigues Wears Down Boitan

by | May 27, 2021 | Uncategorized

It’ll be an All-ACC women’s final on Friday after defending NCAA Women’s Singles Champion Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami (FL) defeated Oregon’s Janice Tjen in straight sets while Virginia freshman Emma Navarro took out the top seed UNC’s Sara Daavettila in 3 sets.

Perez-Somarriba, who came back for a fifth-year of eligibility after COVID wiped out the end of her senior year, won a tough first set over Oregon freshman Janice Tjen then pulled away for a 7-6(4), 6-0 win. Perez-Somarriba will attempt to become the first back-to-back singles champion since Stanford’s Nicole Gibbs won the title in 2013 and 2012.

Perez-Somarriba’s opponent in the final will be another freshman, Virginia’s Emma Navarro. Navarro booked her spot in the final with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over top seed Sara Daavettila. Navarro is the first freshman to advance to the NCAA Women’s Singles Final since Duke’s Mallory Cecil in 2009. Cecil won the title with a win over a Miam’s Laura Vallverdu.

Perez-Somarriba and Navarro met during the regular season with Perez-Somarriba winning the match on April 4, by a score of 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The last women’s final between players from the same conference came in 2016 when Virginia’s Danielle Collins defeated North Carolina’s Hayley Carter.

On the men’s side it’ll be an All-SEC final after Florida’s Sam Riffice defeated the top seed Kentucky’s Liam Draxl in three sets while South Carolina’s Daniel Rodrigues advanced when his opponent Baylor’s Adrian Boitan was forced to retire while trailing 7-6, 3-1.

Rodrigues and Riffice didn’t meet during the regular season dual-match between South Carolina and Florida, because Rodrigues played at 1 and Riffice at 2, however they did play each other back on October 23rd at the Gamecock SEC Fall Shootout – Rodrigues won 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The one other meeting between the two came back on April 14, 2019, with Riffice winning 6-3, 6-2.

The last time Florida had a player make the men’s singles final was in 1999 when Jeff Morrison defeated Harvard’s James Blake. South Carolina will be going for back-to-back titles after Paul Jubb won it in 2019.

This will be the fourth season in a row that the men’s singles final will match up two guys from the same conference. It will also be the second season in a row that it will be an All-SEC final with Paul Jubb defeating Mississippi State’s Nuno Borges in 2019.

Below I have some notes from each match.

Men’s Singles – Semifinal Results
[6] Sam Riffice (13.66), Florida def. [1] Liam Draxl (13.77), Kentucky 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1
[2] Daniel Rodrigues (13.80), South Carolina def. Adrian Boitan (13.51), Baylor 7-6(1), 3-1 ret.

  • [6] Sam Riffice (13.66), Florida def. [1] Liam Draxl (13.77), Kentucky 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1
    • Match Time: 2 hours 13 minutes
    • First Set – Riffice broke Draxl in the opening game and maintained the break lead until Draxl broke Riffice’s 3-2 service game on the deciding point; Riffice broke back from 30/40 and then held for 5-3; Draxl held at love and then fought off 2 set points to break Riffice on the deciding point; Draxl held at love for 6-5 and then Riffice held from 40/15 to send it to a tiebreak; the server won the first 7 points in the TB but then Riffice got a mini-break for 5-3*; Riffice had a pair of set points at *6-4 but while Draxl fought the first one off he couldn’t do the same on the second
    • Second Set – After Riffice held in the opening game, Draxl won the next 5 games with 3 of them coming down to a deciding point; after Riffice held for 2-5 Draxl served out the set from 40/15
    • Third Set: Riffice only dropped 5 points on serve in his 4 service games while also breaking Draxl twice
    • Deciding Points: 6 – Draxl won them all
    • Best Results for Florida at NCAAs: Jeff Morrison (1999 Champ); Mark Merklein (1994 Champ)
  • [2] Daniel Rodrigues (13.80), South Carolina def. Adrian Boitan (13.51), Baylor 7-6(1), 3-1 ret.
    • Match Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
    • First Set – Boitan jumped out to a *2-0 lead but Rodrigues broke the deciding point and then held for 2-2; Boitan held and broke for 4-2 but Rodrigues broke back and held to even it at 4-4; after Boitan held for 5-4 Rodrigues fought off a set point with a hold on the deciding point for 5-5; Boitan held for 6-5 and then Rodrigues fought off another set point with yet another deciding point hold to send it to a tiebreak; Rodrigues dominated the tiebreak winning the first 4 points then after Boitan got on the board Rodrigues won the final 3.
    • Second Set – After 3 holds to start the set Rodrigues broke Boitan from 30/40 with to go ahead 3-1; Boitan retired due to injury after double faulting the break
    • Deciding Points: 4 – Rodrigues won 3
    • Best Results for SC at NCAAs: Paul Jubb (2019 Champ); Guillaume Legat (2001 Semifinalist)

Men’s Final – Time in ET
[2] Daniel Rodrigues (13.80), South Carolina vs. [6] Sam Riffice (13.66), Florida (12:00 pm)

Road to the Final

  • [2] Daniel Rodrigues (13.81), South Carolina
    • def. Adrian Boitan (13.51), Baylor 7-6(1), 3-1 ret. in SF (1:35)
    • def. Aleksandar Kovacevic (13.97), Illinois 6-1, 6-3 in QF (1:11)
    • def.  Daniel Cukierman (14.08), USC 6-4, 7-6(5) in R16 (1:53)
    • def.  Jacob Wojcik (12.92), South Fla, 6-3, 6-0 in R2 (1:06)
    • def. Dimitri Badra (12.82), ETSU, 6-3, 6-4 in R1 (1:31)
    • Time on Court: 7 hours 16 minutes
  • [6] Sam Riffice (13.70), Florida
    • def. [1] Liam Draxl (13.77), Kentucky 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1 in SF (2:13)
    • def. [4] Valentin Vacherot (13.67), Texas A&M 6-3, 6-0 in QF (1:08)
    • def. Siphosothando Montsi (13.36), Illinois 6-2, 6-0 in R16 (1:06)
    • def. Andres Martin (13.15), Georgia Tech 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 (1:43)
    • def.  Nathan Ponwith (13.30), Arizona State, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in R1 (2:14)
    • Time on Court: 8 hours 24 minutes
      • Plus Riffice played on the 3 days preceding the start of the singles championship
        • def. Matias Soto (13.67), Baylor, 7-5, 6-3 in team final (1:34)
        • vs. Micah Braswell (13.48), Texas, 6-7(3), 2-3, unfinished in team semifinal (1:53)
        • def. Hady Habib (13.61), Texas A&M, 7-6(5), 6-4 in team quarterfinal (2:03)
    • Time on Court in Last 8 Days (Including Team QF/SF/F): 13 hours 54 minutes
  • Result in Fall: Rodrigues def. Riffice 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

Women’s Singles – Semifinal Results
[3] Emma Navarro, Virginia 11.35 def. [1] Sara Daavettila, North Carolina 10.95 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
[2] Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (FL) 11.08 def. Janice Tjen, Oregon 10.70 7-6(4), 6-0

  • [3] Emma Navarro, Virginia 11.35 def. [1] Sara Daavettila, North Carolina 10.95 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
    • Match Time 2 hours 30 minutes
    • First Set – Daavettila and Navarro exchanged breaks twice (first two games of the match and the 5th and 6th games); Navarro broke Daavettila on the deciding point to take the set
    • Second Set – Exchanged breaks to start the set then after Navarro held for 2-1 Daavettila reeled off 5 straight to take the set 6-2
    • Third Set: Navarro jumped out to a *3-1 lead but Daavettila broke on the deciding point for 3-2*; Navarro broke back, held, and broke again to close it out
    • Deciding Points: 10 – Daavettila won 6
    • Best Results for UVA at NCAAs: Danielle Collins (2016 & 2014 Champ)
  • [2] Estela Perez-Somarriba (11.08), Miami (FL) def. Janice Tjen, Oregon 10.70 7-6(4), 6-0
    • Match Time 1 hour 40 minutes
    • First Set – Tjen jumped out to a 3-0* lead after winning a pair of deciding points but Perez-Somarriba won the next 3 to even it at 3-3; after two exchanges of holds Perez-Somarriba broke Tjen at love to go ahead 6-5 but Tjen broke back from 15/40 to send it to a tiebreak; Perez-Somarriba won the first 4 points and then after Tjen got on the board Perez-Somarriba increased her lead to 6-1*; Tjen won the next 3 to pull within 6-4 but Perez-Somarriba took the next one to close the set out
    • Second Set – Perez-Somarriba only dropped 5 points on serve; Tjen had 5 game points in her first two service games but got broke on the deciding point on both; Perez-Somarriba broke at love to close it out
    • Deciding Points: 7 – Perez-Somarriba won 4
    • Best Results for UM at NCAAs: Estela Perez-Somarriba (2019 Champ); Laura Vallverdu (2009 Finalist); Audra Cohen (2007 Champ)

Women’s Final – Time ET
[2] Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (FL) 11.08 vs. [3] Emma Navarro, Virginia 11.35 (12:00 pm)

Road to the Final

  • [2] Estela Perez-Somarriba, Miami (FL) 11.08
    • def. Janice Tjen (10.70), Oregon 7-6(4), 6-0 in SF (1:40)
    • def.  [7] Abigail Forbes (11.20), UCLA 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3 in QF (3:05)
    • def. Alexa Graham (11.04), North Carolina 6-3, 6-3 in R16 (1:35)
    • def. Peyton Stearns (11.03), Texas 6-2, 6-4 in R2 (1:38)
    • def. Salma Ewing (10.90), USC, 6-2, 6-3 in R1 (1:27)
    • Time on Court: 9 hours 25 minutes
  • [3] Emma Navarro, Virginia 11.35
    • def. [1] Sara Daavettila (10.95), North Carolina 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in SF (2:30)
    • def. Paris Corley (10.68), LSU 6-2, 6-1 in QF (1:03)
    • def. Meg Kowalski (10.76), Georgia 6-1, 6-1 in R16 (1:16)
    • def. Ilze Hattingh (10.29), Arizona State, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0 in R2 (2:06)
    • def. Haley Giavara (10.40), California, 7-6(3), 6-2 in R1 (1:20)
    • Time on Court: 8 hours 15 minutes
  • Regular Season Result: Perez-Somarriba def. Navarro 1-6, 6-4, 6-3

You can follow the matches with the live scoring links (MEN & WOMEN) and streaming video via the TennisOne app.