James Trotter Claims First Professional Title – Ohio State Buckeyes

Saturday’s semifinal pitted Trotter against another young American in Patrick Kypson. The two battled for nearly three and a half hours as all three sets were decided in a tiebreak. Trotter claimed the first set breaker 8-6 and Kypson evened the score with a 7-4 win in the second. In the final set, Trotter advanced to the finals with his own 7-4 tiebreaker win.

Trotter then took on former Arizona State standout Nathan Ponwith in the finals. Ponwith, who was ranked No. 566 coming into the week, went up an early break in the first set and held that advantage for a 6-3 victory. In the second set, it was Trotter’s turn to go up an early break but Ponwith broke right back. Trotter responded with a break at 4-3 and held for 5-3. He eventual won the set 6-4 to force a third and deciding set.

In the final set, it was all Trotter. He broke Ponwith in the first game and stormed to a 4-0 lead. He would drop just one game en route to a 6-1 victory.

Trotter is coming off a first team All-Big Ten season, which saw him go 21-8 in singles and be ranked as high at No. 2 in the country in doubles. He also won the ITA Midwest Singles Championship and held a singles ranking all season, topping out at No. 26. He had just one singles win in three pro events this summer prior to this week.

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