Wake Forest Athletics
Paul Opens NCAA Singles Play Wednesday
5/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 24, 2006
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Wake Forest junior Todd Paul has learned his first round opponent in the NCAA Singles Championship. It will be Boise State sophomore Luke Shields, the nation's 45th-ranked player. The match is slated for 1:00 p.m. Pacific time at Stanford University.
Wednesday's winner faces either Luis Flores (Georgia) or Ryler DeHeart (Illinois). DeHeart is seeded 9-16.
Shields, a native of Grand Junction, Colo., and Paul, the 18th-ranked player and a native of Stamford, Conn., have never met in collegiate ranks.
Paul enters the match with a 26-13 record. The three-time All-ACC selection and 2004 ACC Rookie of the Year held down the number one singles position as a junior for the Deacons.
Paul has been ranked between 10th and 18th all spring. He peaked at number 10 on March 7 while on a season-best six-match winning streak.
Eighteen of Paul's 39 matches this season have come against players who qualified for the singles field, not including wins against the field's top two alternates. In meetings against the invited 64 players, Paul registered an 8-10 mark. Five of those losses, however, came against opponents ranked in the top 10. His landmark win this season came against 10th-ranked Raian Luchici of North Carolina in March.
It will be Paul's first career appearance in the event. He is seeking to become Wake Forest's Singles All-American since Gilles Ameline in 1990.
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