Styler Advances to NCAA Singles Semifinals

Styler Advances to NCAA Singles Semifinals

Site: Lake Nona, Fla. (USTA National Campus)

Event: NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships (Day 4 of 6)

Score: No Team Scoring

Next U-M Event: Friday, May 26 — at NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships (Lake Nona, Fla.), TBA

LAKE NONA, Fla. — Ondrej Styler punched his ticket to the NCAA Singles Championship with a straight-set win over top-ranked Eliot Spizzirri, becoming the first University of Michigan men’s tennis player to reach the semis since 1987, as the Wolverine completed day four of action at the NCAA Championships on Thursday (May 25) at the USTA National Campus.

Styler won a methodical 6-4, 6-3 match over the top-ranked Spizzirri, handing him just his second singles loss of the calendar year. Styler saved two break points on his first service game to hold at 1-1. Following a pair of holds between the two, Styler grabbed a break point of his own on the deuce point. He converted and won the next game to consolidate the break at 4-2. Both players held the rest of the way as Styler won a drama-free first set.

He again saved break points in his first service game, coming through with an ace on the deuce point for a 1-1 ledger. He grabbed three break points of his own in the next set, following the script of his first set, converting and then holding for a 3-1 lead. Both players held over the next several games until Styler grabbed two match points on Spizzirri’s serve. The Longhorn fought off the first one, but Styler’s service return on the second induced a forehand wide to seal the straight-set win. Styler is the first Wolverine since Dan Goldberg finished runner-up in 1987 to reach the semifinals of the singles tournament.

Andrew Fenty dropped a 6-2, 6-4 match to No. 2-ranked Ethan Quinn. Fenty’s first set featured three straight breaks to start, but Quinn was able to hold in the set’s fourth game for a 3-1 lead. It was all Quinn from there as he grabbed another break en route to the 6-2 win.

Much like the first set, Fenty fell behind quickly at 2-0. He was in danger of falling behind two breaks at 3-0, but he was able to fight off multiple break points, the last when Quinn clipped the net and the ball fell back on his side. Fenty got the break back in the next…