Wake Forest Athletics
Two Former Deacon Tennis Stars Enjoying Professional Success
6/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
June 27, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Former Wake Forest tennis players Brett Ross and Derrick Spice have enjoyed a successful run in the professional ranks during the past month.
The duo paired to win the doubles title at the Crown North Carolina Closed Championships in Greensboro on June 4. Ross won the singles championship there and again at the CVITT Tournament at the Oakwood Country Club in Lynchburg, Va., on June 12. The titles were the first of Ross' professional career.
As the top seed at the Greensboro event, Ross and Spice rolled through the doubles field without dropping a set. They defeated William Noblitt and Mason Schermerhorn, 6-3, 6-4 to win the tournament.
In singles, Ross was the three-seed and cruised into the final against Noblitt, formerly of NC State. The two had split their two previous meetings at Wake Forest and NC State, respectively. Going toe-to-toe for the first time as professionals, Ross rallied for a hard-fought 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 win.
Ross went to the Lynchburg event as the number six seed. In the quarterfinals, he upset Oren Motevassel of Fountain Valley, Calif., formerly one of the top 150 players in the world, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. In the final, Ross played Trevor Spracklin, a former number one player for William & Mary. Ross' magic continued with an easy 6-1, 6-2 for his second consecutive singles title.
Ross also advanced to the final of the doubles bracket with partner Oscar Blacutt.
Spice was a three-time All-ACC player who qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship at the zenith of his career. The native of North Olmsted, Ohio, played for the Deacons from 2002-05. Ross, who hails from Roswell, Ga., help Wake Forest appear in four straight NCAA Tournaments and completed his collegiate career this spring with 97 singles wins, the fourth-most in program history.
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