Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
NCAA Singles Championship
Rubin to Play for National Title Monday
5/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Final Stats | Tournament Central | Live Video/Stats
By Andrew Wilson, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
WACO, Texas - Wake Forest men's tennis player Noah Rubin advanced to the national championship match of the NCAA Singles Championship Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Virginia at Hurd Tennis Center.
Rubin, the sixth-ranked player in the ITA singles poll and the No. 7 seed in the tournament, will face another Cavalier in the championship match in No. 8 Ryan Shane. The championship contest is set for Monday at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT), again at Hurd Tennis Center.
"I thought I was very focused throughout," Rubin said. "I thought I stepped up when I needed to. I was patient, I knew that my mental game was going to be important, especially with the possibility of rain. We played the whole match, luckily. Even though he was up 3-0 in the second set, I just kept fighting, fighting and found my opportunities."
Trailing 3-2 in the first set, Rubin went on a three-game run to take a 5-3 lead in the set. After Kwiatkowski held serve to make it 5-4, Rubin held with an impressive service game to take the first set.
To open the second set, Kwiatkowski jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Rubin went on a five-game run to take a solid 5-3 lead. Like the first set, Kiwatkowski held to make it 5-4, but again Rubin held serve to clinch his ticket to Monday's championship match.
"Obviously, it's a great opportunity tomorrow," Rubin said. "I am not really thinking about it too much. I might be thinking about it after the tournament. Hopefully, I win tomorrow. I am just going to keep my body in check, keep stretching and resting."
Previously this season, Rubin took a 7-6 (5), 6-3 match against Shane in the ACC Championship Finals. The freshman is now 26-3 on the year and has won 17 matches in a row. With the win over No. 19 Kwiatkowski, Rubin has now won 12 decisions in a row against nationally-ranked opponents.
In two matches this spring season against Wake Forest players, Shane has lost both times. In the regular-season contest between Wake Forest and Virginia, Romain Bogaerts topped Shane 6-4, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (8) on March 6.
NCAA Men's Tennis Championship
Singles competition
#6 Noah Rubin (Wake Forest) def. #19 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Virginia) 6-4, 6-4
Tournament Notes
NCAA Individual Final Four
Rubin - First Wake Forest player to advance to the national championship in program history.
Players Mentioned
