Before this season, Virginia junior Ryan Shane had won just one match at the NCAA Men’s Singles Championship. But Monday at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Shane emerged from the 64-player field a champion.
Shane dropped the first set against Wake Forest freshman Noah Rubin, and Rubin served for the match in the second. But Shane broke when he had to and kept pushing from there, scoring a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 win over the reigning Junior Wimbledon champion.
Just six days earlier, Shane helped Virginia to its second NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship, posting an 8-4 victory at No. 1 doubles alongside sophomore Luca Corinteli before hanging in against Oklahoma junior Axel Alvarez at No. 1 singles.
“It is an unbelievable feeling to be coming home with two championships,” Shane said Monday. “I don't think it has set in yet that this is real. The fact that I had to fight so hard for this title, coming from behind today, makes it that much more special.”
Rubin claimed the first five games of the match and held a 5-2 advantage when rain forced a move inside to the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. Shane pushed Rubin to four deuces at 5-3, but the New York City native held for the first set.
Rubin — the winner of 17 consecutive matches coming in — again charged ahead in the second set, breaking Shane in the fifth game. But serving for the match at 5-4, Rubin started to lose his lead.
Shane broke to level the set at five-all and grabbed the tiebreaker with an early mini-break. He controlled the decisive third from the outset, breaking Rubin at love in the opening game.
“I can't imagine a better way to end this season,” coach Brian Boland said. “This success is a testament of the hard work of every player, coach and staff member in this program. I am so proud of how far Ryan has come in his time at Virginia.”
Shane is Virginia’s second NCAA men’s singles champion — current ATP World Tour No. 169 Somdev Devvarman won national titles in 2007 and 2008 — and the 14th player since 1977 to win national team and singles titles in the same season. That group includes such collegiate and professional standouts as John McEnroe, Tim Mayotte, Bob Bryan and Steve Johnson.
Read More
Women’s basketball flounders against Wyoming
By Xander Tilock and Victoria Blankenship | 2 hours agoVirginia finishes 1-2 at the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout.
Colin Gallagher, still waiting for his shot, is the men’s soccer team’s hype man
By Michael Liebermann | 20 hours agoJunior goalkeeper Colin Gallagher conducts a rousing pregame huddle.
Women’s basketball goes scoreless in the final minutes of a 75-74 loss
By Xander Tilock and Lauren Halak | 22 hours agoVirginia falls to 1-1 in the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout Challenge.
