Tennessee freshman J.P. Smith continued his run through the NCAA tennis singles bracket on Saturday.
He's back today for the semifinals.
Smith ousted 32nd-ranked Steven Moneke of Ohio State in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
"It was another good performance," UT coach Sam Winterbotham said.
"J.P. has proven that he is capable of winning this tournament. He is doing a great job of staying focused and taking it one match at a time."
The 24th-ranked Smith takes on 11th-ranked Andre Begemann of Pepperdine in the semifinals.
Smith, the SEC freshman of the year, has advanced farther than any UT player since Chris Woodruff won the singles title in 1993.
Begemann, a senior from Germany, defeated Justin Kronauge of Ohio State, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The other semifinal today pits top-ranked Somdev Dewarman of Virginia against seventh-ranked Alex Clayton of Stanford.
Smith, from Townsville, Australia, improved to 33-10 on the year, including 16-8 against ranked opponents.
Moneke was the first opponent in the singles bracket to force Smith to a third set.
"I think this is the kind of performance that we can start expecting from more players in our program,'' Winterbotham said.
"Other players on our team have the ability to make it this far in the tournament, and I hope that J.P.'s success sets a standard that helps this become a regular occurrence for us."
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Comments » 4
BillVol writes:
Way to go, J.P.!!! What a run! Keep it going!!!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Imagine- a male side of the UTAD headed for the Grail.
Congrats, young man and best of luck.
ncvol writes:
You are doing great. Hope you win the next match.
UT4ME writes:
You can watch tomorrow's championship at the website below (not sure about TV)...and that site is also the source of the today's semifinal match results & quote(s). Congratulations JP Smith!
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports...
J.P. Smith (Tennessee) def. #9-16 Andre Begemann (Pepperdine), 6-2, 6-4
On that match...
"First I got off to a good start, I broke (his serve) early in the first game. Then I held serve throughout the set and ended up breaking again to secure the set. Which was good. Then in the second set I got off to a bit of a slow start. I lost a lot of easy points on my serve, like I wasn't doing during the first set. Then at 4-all in the second (set), I managed to hit some really good returns and then get the break and then serve it out."
Talk about playing for a National Championship tomorrow...
"You know I hadn't really thought about it. If you told me at the start of the week I'd be in the final, I would have thought I wouldn't. It's good now, I got one more match to go, it's going to be a tough match. I am playing the No. 1 player in the country now, Somdev (Devvarman). He's been here before; he won it last year and was in the final the year before. He knows, I guess, the situation and expectation that comes from the final. I'm looking forward to it. I am playing the best tennis right now, which is good. Hopefully I can get one more done."
Tulsa Men's Tennis
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