Dewarman wins NCAA Tennis title (again!)

  TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Virginia’s Somdev Devvarman became only the
fourth player in the last 50 years to win back-to-back NCAA men’s
singles championships Monday by beating Tennessee freshman J.P.
Smith 6-3, 6-2.
    Devvarman took just 61 minutes to join Georgia’s Matias Boeker
(2001-02), Mikael Pernfors (1984-85) and Southern California’s
Dennis Ralston (1963-64) with the rare repeat title in the past
half-century. Nine others won consecutive titles between the
sport’s start in 1883 and Ralston’s back-to-back titles.
    This was also Devvarman’s third straight trip the title match.
He lost in the finals as a sophomore.
    “It’s definitely a great feeling,“ said Devvarman, who has
been ranked No. 1 all season. “This is the way pretty much anyone
would like to end their college career.“
    Georgia Tech’s Amanda McDowell defeated 2005 champion Zuzana
Zemenova 6-2, 6-3 to win the women’s singles title. The Southern
California team of Robery Farah and Kaes Van’t Hof beat
Mississippi’s Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit 7-6 (10), 7-6 (6) in the
men’s doubles final.
    Tracy Lin and Riza Zalameda, who led UCLA to the women’s team
title, captured the doubles championship over Fresno State’s
Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
    Devvarman ran his season record to 44-1. His only loss came at
the Michael D. Case Center - the site of the national championships
- last fall when he lost to Georgia’s Travis Helgeson in the
All-American tournament. Devvarman has now won a record 18 straight
NCAA tournament matches.
    “I knew coming in that J.P. was a good player that relied
heavily on his serve,“ Devvarman said. “That was the key piece of
his game. For J.P. to beat me, he had to serve unbelievably and
play a really good return game.“
    Smith, who finished 33-11 for the year, had trouble early with
his serve.
    “I did not execute as well I’d like today,“ Smith said. “I
had to use my second serve and he made me pay for it.“
    McDowell, a sophomore, was playing in the NCAA singles
tournament for the first time and had to fight off four match
points to even survive the first round. She rallied for a three-set
win on opening day.
    “It’s one of the most rewarding moments of my life,“ McDowell
said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy and exhausted at the
same time.“
    The doubles team of Farah and Van’t Hof played tiebreakers in
each of its last five sets, winning the final four. The USC tandem
beat Mississippi teams in the semifinals and the finals.
    “It’s one of those doubles matches played at a high level,“
said Van’t Hof, whose father, Robert, won the 1980 NCAA singles
championship also for Southern California.
    Lin and Zalameda only became doubles partners in January after
an injury to a teammate, but cruised through their first four
matches in straight sets as the tournament’s top seed.
    “They were a good team,“ Lin said. “Rowe is extremely
aggressive at the net. They were the only team to take a set from
us the entire tournament. In the third set, we were fortunate
enough to get an early break and stayed on top of them. Things just
went our way today.“