Wake Forest Athletics
Paul Ranked Number One Nationally In Singles
2/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 21, 2007
Princeton, N.J. - There is a new number one player in college tennis. Wake Forest senior All-American Todd Paul moved into the top spot in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles poll.
Paul is joined in the rankings by two teammates, Cory Parr and Steven Forman. Parr, a sophomore from Jericho, N.Y., is ranked 51st and Forman, a freshman from Del Mar, Calif., is ranked 82nd.
Paul, a native of Stamford, Conn., leapfrogged Ohio State's Steven Moneke, John Isner of Georgia and Ivan Puchkarov of Oklahoma State to stand atop of the rankings. Paul becomes the first Wake Forest player to ever be ranked number one.
"It was a little surprising. The guys around me in the rankings have also picked up some good wins. I assumed they would stay ahead of me so I'm a little shocked," Paul said.
Paul (19-2) has won all eight of his matches this spring in straight sets, highlighted by a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Old Dominion's Harel Srugo, who is currently ranked eighth nationally.
He owns a 9-2 mark against nationally-ranked during the 2006-07 season, including a 5-0 mark against opponents currently ranked in the top 15. Those victories, all in straight sets, have come against second-ranked Arnau Brugues of Tulsa, eighth-ranked Srugo twice, 10th-ranked Ryan Rowe of Illinois and 11th-ranked Stephen Bass of Notre Dame.
The number one ranking figures to put a giant bull's eye on Paul.
"I'm sure it will put a bigger target on my back, but I don't really worry about that stuff," Paul said. "I won't think about it too much. My plan is to go out and keep trying to improve every match."
Paul and the Deacons will host 52nd-ranked Louisville on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Eighth-ranked Pepperdine, the defending national champions, comes to town on Sunday at noon.
Rank Player School Year Hometown Record Computer score1 - Todd Paul... Wake Forest... Senior... Stamford, CT... 19-2... 66.002 - Arnau Brugues... Tulsa... Junior... Barcelona, Spain... 16-3... 62.183 - John Isner... Georgia... Senior... Greensboro, NC... 22-3... 58.134 - Somdev Devvarman... Virginia... Junior... Chennia, India... 16-3... 53.335 - Benjamin Kohlloeffel... UCLA... Junior... Herne, Germany... 17-2... 50.006 - Kevin Anderson... Illinois... Junior... Johannesburg, S. Africa... 12-4... 45.357 - Luke Shields... Boise State... Junior... Grand Junction, CO... 19-4... 41.288 - Harel Srugo... Old Dominion... Junior... Kibutz Gazit, Israel... 17-6... 37.649 - Luis Flores... Georgia... Junior... Xalapa, Mexico... 14-5... 37.4410 - Ryan Rowe... Illinois... Junior... Moline, IL... 14-4... 36.76
