No. 23 Men's Tennis Wins Fifth-Straight to Clinch No. 2 Seed
April 12, 2009
CORAL GABLES, FLA… – The No. 23 University of Miami men’s tennis team swept visiting Maryland, 7-0, on Sunday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center to clinch the No. 2 seed in this week’s ACC Men’s Tennis Championship.
The Hurricanes (13-7, 9-2 ACC) – winners of five straight – tied a program best with their ninth ACC win on Sunday and earned a first-round bye at the ACC Championship, which is given to the top-four seeded teams. The Terrapins (7-13, 1-10) will enter postseason play as the No. 11 seed.
Every Hurricane put together a strong performance on Sunday, as Miami swept all three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead.
The two seniors then did not waste any time in downing their singles opponents, as David Rosenfeld cruised to the 6-1, 6-1 victory at the No. 2 position and 15th-ranked All-American Daniel Vallverdu notched his seventh-straight victory with the 6-2, 6-0 decision at No. 1.
“We knew we had to get this win to lock up the No. 2 seed and we really focused on that, “said Rosenfeld.
Sophomore Christian Blocker scored the match-clinching fourth point for Miami, winning his third-straight singles match in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) at No. 3.
Junior David Simon also earned his third-straight win, extending the Miami lead to 5-0 with the 6-2, 6-3 decision at No. 6.
Freshman Ignacio Taboada knocked off his opponent, 6-2, 6-3, on Sunday to become the first Miami freshman to reach 20 wins since Josh Cohen went 21-9 in 2003-04. Sophomore Keith Crowley also notched his 20th win of the season, battling to the 6-3, 7-5 win to complete the 7-0 sweep for the Hurricanes.
Miami also recognized its two seniors – Rosenfeld and Vallverdu – during Sunday’s regular-season finale.
“Dani [Vallverdu] and David [Rosenfeld] have been awesome for this program,” said Miami head coach Mario Rincon. “We have been very fortunate to have them because they’re both great players in singles and in doubles, really good students and just awesome kids. I could not be more fortunate than to have them on the team.”
“I struggled a lot in the beginning of this year [with the injury], but [head coach] Mario [Rincon] constantly encouraged me to be positive and told me it was just a matter of time,” said Vallverdu. “Now I’m really happy with how I’m playing and hitting the ball. The team is also playing well – and that’s the most important thing.
“These have been the fastest four years of my life – they have gone by really quick. As a freshman, you don’t think about how fast this time goes, but it’s been really fun. Mario and [assistant coach] CJ [Weber] made things really easy for me, and I think it’s really important when you play college tennis that you have good coaches. I think that they play such a big part of your life, and I’m so glad to have had CJ and Mario as coaches.”
Following their first-round bye, the No. 2-seeded Hurricanes return to competition at the ACC Men’s Tennis Championships in Cary, N.C. on Friday, April 17, at noon. Miami will face the winner of Thursday’s match between the No. 7 and 10 seeds.
No. 23 Miami 7, Maryland 0
Singles
1. #15 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. Nikolai Nielsen (MD) 6-2, 6-0
2. David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Borris Fetbroyt (MD) 6-1, 6-1
3. #120 Christian Blocker (UM) def. Mathias Sarrazin (MD) 6-2, 6-3
4. Keith Crowley (UM) def. Alex Aksanov (MD) 6-3, 7-5
5. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Graham Knowlton (MD) 6-2, 6-3
6. David Simon (UM) def. Roshan Potarazu (MD) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3*, 6, 5, 4
Doubles
1. Daniel Vallverdu/David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Borris Fetbroyt/Alex Aksanov (MD) 8-2
2. Keith Crowley/Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Nikolai Nielsen/Mathias Sarrazin (MD) 8-2
3. Christian Blocker/David Simon (UM) def. Graham Knowlton/Arman Moussavi (MD) 8-3
Order of finish: 1, 2*, 3
