Cohen Tabbed as the First Miami Women's Tennis Player to Advance to the Finals of NCAA Singles Championships
May 27, 2007
Athens, G.A. – Top-seed Cohen will go down in Miami women’s tennis history as the first player ever to reach the final round of the NCAA Singles Championships after she downed Zuzana Zemenova 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinal this afternoon at the 2007 NCAA Singles Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia Campus.
Since the start of the NCAA tournament, top-seed Cohen has been on an ultimate tear of the tournament. With a first-round 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 win against former Miami teammate, No. 32 Monika Dancevic of Georgia, Cohen went on to claim a 6-2, 7-6 (3) defeat over 23rd-ranked Diana Srebrovic of Florida. In the round of 16, Cohen faced Stanford’s Celia Durkin, who is ranked No. 14, and captured a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win to advance to the quarterfinal round. There, Cohen knocked down her first straight-set victory as she posted a 6-0, 6-2 defeat over her second Stanford opponent, No. 41 Lindsay Burdette.
In today’s semifinal match, it marked a sweet victory for Cohen as she knocked down Zemenova, whom she faced in the final round of the 2005 NCAA tournament. That year, it was Zemenova who walked away with the win.
Cohen will look to capture the national title and bring home the first singles championship trophy, as she takes on fourth-seed Lindsay Nelson of Southern California. It’s been all but a series of simple competitions when Cohen and Nelson face-off, with just three matches against each other in the last two seasons. In the semifinal round of the 2006 NCAA Team Championships, Cohen and Nelson faced-off in a three-set battle at the No. 1 singles match with Cohen in a slight lead7-5, 4-6, 3-2, before the match was suspended with Miami upsetting Southern California, 4-1. The two faced-off in the 2006 Singles Championships, as Nelson defeated Cohen 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the Round of 16.
In this season’s Round of 16 of the NCAA Team Championships, Cohen and Nelson battled it out in a competitive three-set showdown, with the win at the edge of their fingertips, that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. But it was Cohen who went on to claim the victory 5-7, 6-5, 6-3, that nailed the second consecutive upset by the ninth-ranked Hurricanes over the then eighth-ranked Trojans.
Nelson advanced to her second consecutive final appearance after she upset second-seed Megan Falcon of LSU, 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Tomorrow’s match is set to kick-off at the 8 p.m. Log-on to georgiadogs.com for live, up to the minute coverage of the singles match.
