Slovic's NCAA Run Comes To An End
May 27, 2007
Athens, Ga. - Alex Slovic was denied in his attempt to become just the third Husky ever to make the NCAA Men's Singles Championships when he was beat by No. 1 seed John Isner of Georgia in the semifinals on Sunday.
Isner, playing in front of a home crowd in Athens, Georgia, won 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 to earn a right to play for the NCAA Singles Championship on Monday at 3 p.m. PT. He will play the No. 2 seed Somdev Devvarman of Virginia, who beat Kevin Anderson of Illinois, 7-6, 5-7, 6-3.
Slovic struggled to solve the 6-foot, 9-inch Isner's lethal serve for much of the match. He only broke the senior from Greensboro, N.C. once, while Isner was able to break Slovic in each of the three sets.
"It didn't matter if it was his first serve or second serve," said Slovic from the airport. "The ball was going really fast by me and I had very little control over where it was going. I tried to do my best on his serves--I wish it could have been just a baseline game."
"But, overall the tournament was really great. I came here a week ago and didn't even know if I would get to play. This experience has definitely been a great way to end my collegiate career."
In the first set, Slovic broke the No. 1 seeded Isner at 3-3 and was serving with a 5-4 lead before the Georgia All-American kept the set going by breaking back. Each held serve to force a tiebreaker and once there, Slovic took advantage of an Isner double fault and served out to win 7-4.
The pair battled back-and-forth in the second set with each holding serve until Isner broke Slovic for a 5-4 lead. Isner served out to win the second set 6-4.
In the third set, Isner broke Slovic out of the gate, and the Husky All-American was never able to recover. Each held serve and Isner ended the match with a resounding ace to end Slovic's Husky career.
Slovic finished the season 25-12 and his Husky career with a 101-42 singles record, the fourth most wins in UW history. He also ends his career as the school's all-time doubles wins leader (83) and combined wins leader (184).
"Alex won more matches than anyone in the 99-years of Husky tennis," said Head Coach Matt Anger. "So obviously we're going to miss him. It will be hard to fill the hole he'll leave when I'm writing out line ups next season."
Slovic is the third Husky to reach the NCAA semifinals since 1999, with all three being denied a shot at playing for the championship.
For complete tournament information, please visit: www.georgiadogs.com.
