Wake Forest Athletics
Parr Falls in W-S Open Doubles Quarterfinals
8/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Aug. 24, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Former Demon Deacon Cory Parr's run in the doubles draw of the Winston-Salem Open came to an end Wednesday night when he dropped a 7-6 (5), 6-4 decision to Colin Fleming and Scott Lipsky in the quarterfinals.
Playing as the nightcap to Andy Roddick's singles match on Stadium Court, Parr and his partner Treat Huey enjoyed a vocal hometown crowd that numbered over 1,000 at the start of the match, with the cheering led by some of his former Wake Forest teammates who had secured courtside seats.
"I want to thank everybody who came out tonight," said Parr. "It was amazing. It brought back a lot of memories from playing ACC tennis here. It was a pleasure to be playing in front of this kind of support, (and) it's a memory that I'll always have."
Gracious in victory, Fleming, a veteran doubles player, told the crowd as Parr walked off the court, "I don't know how many matches he's played at this level, but he definitely belongs here."
After getting broken early in the first set, Fleming and Lipsky rallied back to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, an unforced error by Huey gave Fleming a set point on his serve at 6-5, and the Brit stepped up to the line and smashed an ace to close out the set.
Fleming and Lipsky carried the momentum into the second set where they jumped out to a 3-0, two-break lead, but Huey and Parr slowly clawed their way back into the match, winning a game on Fleming's serve to get one of the breaks back.
Fleming and Lipsky maintained their break advantage through the second set, giving Lipsky a chance to serve out the second set at 5-4, but Huey and Parr fought until the very end. After dropping the first point of the game, Parr smacked a return that Fleming barely got a racket on to even the score at 15-15. On the next point, Huey's slickly directed a half-volley for a crosscourt winner and Parr followed by smoking a backhand passing shot down the middle of the court to give them three points at 15-40 to extend the match. But Lipsky and Fleming eventually proved to be too much, rattling off the next three points to clinch the match.
"(Doubles) is a roller coaster ride," said Parr. "I give a lot of credit to the guys who stick out here and do it. It's all about consistency in doubles, and with the no-ad scoring and the 10-point tiebreaker (in lieu of a third set), it's just a crapshoot. We were up 4-3, 40-15 in the first set, and if we hold that point, it's a completely different match."
Parr played Future and Challenger level professional tournaments after graduating from Wake Forest in 2009, but his win in yesterday's first-round match was the first ATP Tour-level victory of his career.
Parr has been working on the business side of a group that owns 14 tennis clubs in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut over the past year and also helping out as a volunteer assistant coach at Cornell. Despite his success at the Winston-Salem Open, he has no immediate plans to return to professional tennis and is looking at going back to school to pursue an MBA.
Players Mentioned
