GoFrogs: Rybakov's Run Ends In NCAA Singles Semifinals

[TopFrog]

https://gofrogs.com/news/2019/5/24/mens-tennis-rybakovs-run-ends-in-ncaa-singles-semifinals.aspx

GoFrogs: Rybakov's Run Ends In NCAA Singles Semifinals

ORLANDO, Fla. – TCU senior All-American Alex Rybakov's historic run to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship came to an end on Friday afternoon as he dropped a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 decision to No. 1-overall seed Nuno Borges of Mississippi State at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

The No. 3 seed in this year's tournament, Rybakov is just the second player in TCU history to reach the singles semifinals, joining current ATP World No. 41-ranked Cameron Norrie who accomplished the feat in 2016.

Rybakov finishes his senior season with an overall singles record of 29-5. He will also conclude his TCU career as the program's all-time leader in both singles and combined (singles and doubles) winning percentage. In his four years in Fort Worth, Rybakov was 92-19 (.829) in singles play and 72-22 (.766) in doubles to give him a combined record of 164-41 (.800).

Friday's match was a battle from start-to-finish as two of the nation's top competitors squared off for the fourth time this season.

The first set was particularly tense as the two players combined for five service breaks in the frame. Borges jumped ahead 2-0 early when he won three consecutive points to steal the first break, but Rybakov was unaffected and broke him right back to bring the set back on serve.

The see-saw tilt continued, however, as neither player held serve the next time around before Rybakov ended that streak of four consecutive breaks and brought the set back to even at 3-3. The score would remain deadlocked at 5-5 as the next four games were traded evenly. Borges would close out the stanza by winning the final two games though, taking a one-set advantage with a 7-5 victory.

Rybakov struck first in the second set, breaking Borges to go up 2-1 but that lead was short-lived. The Mississippi State senior would then rattle off four consecutive games to take a commanding 5-2 advantage. Although Rybakov was able to hold serve to keep his collegiate career alive, it was for just one more game as Borges would go on to clinch his spot in Saturday's national championship contest by winning the second set, 6-3.

TCU Head Coach David Roditi on Alex Rybakov
"There will only be one Rybakov. He's special. He will be missed and we couldn't be more proud of him as a player, as a student, as a teammate and as a Horned Frog. The relationship only continues. He knows Fort Worth will always be his home away from home. We love him."

NCAA Individual Championship Results (Friday, May 24)
Singles
SF: #1 Nuno Borges (Mississippi State) def. #3 Alex Rybakov (TCU): 7-5, 6-3

 

[JogginFrog]

Interesting that Borges didn't win the final, losing to Paul Jubb of South Carolina, 6-3 7-6.

Someone mentioned in another thread that it seemed weird to have the #3 seed face the #1 in the semis (instead of 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3). I agree. Here's the bracket, and the more you look at it, the weirder it gets. They seeded 8 players, then had a second group seeded as "9-16," distinguished from everyone else but not from one another. Fair enough, except there weren't 8 players in that second group--only 6.

Then, you have two seeded players in each quadrant of the bracket, as expected--only they aren't paired lowest vs. highest. Instead, it's:

1 vs. 5
3 vs. 8

2 vs. 7
4 vs. 6

The weirdness made me wonder if some individuals didn't accept invitations to play. Sure enough, deep in the tournament selection story, you get the original list of 8 seeds and "9-16" seeds. Rybo was supposed to be the 4 seed, but got bumped up to 3 because Carl Söderlund, the 3 seed, didn't play. At least 3 of the original "9-16" seeds also did not play. Some reseeding was done, but apparently the bracket wasn't fully rebalanced based on the final field.

 

[MBAFrog91]

Interesting that Borges didn't win the final, losing to Paul Jubb of South Carolina, 6-3 7-6.

Someone mentioned in another thread that it seemed weird to have the #3 seed face the #1 in the semis (instead of 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3). I agree. Here's the bracket, and the more you look at it, the weirder it gets. They seeded 8 players, then had a second group seeded as "9-16," distinguished from everyone else but not from one another. Fair enough, except there weren't 8 players in that second group--only 6.

Then, you have two seeded players in each quadrant of the bracket, as expected--only they aren't paired lowest vs. highest. Instead, it's:

1 vs. 5
3 vs. 8

2 vs. 7
4 vs. 6

The weirdness made me wonder if some individuals didn't accept invitations to play. Sure enough, deep in the tournament selection story, you get the original list of 8 seeds and "9-16" seeds. Rybo was supposed to be the 4 seed, but got bumped up to 3 because Carl Söderlund, the 3 seed, didn't play. At least 3 of the original "9-16" seeds also did not play. Some reseeding was done, but apparently the bracket wasn't fully rebalanced based on the final field.

It’s because the original 3 seed dropped out the day before the singles started. Instead of rebracketing, everyone moved up a seed.