ORLANDO - In a terrific match between two of the top three teams in the nation, #1-ranked University of Chicago earned a 5-4 victory over #3 Tufts University in the NCAA Division III Championship Final Four today at the U.S. Tennis Association National Campus.
The decision came down to the #1 match between Chicago junior Christian Alshon and Tufts senior Isaac Gorelik. Alshon won the first set handily 6-2 and then had a 5-4 lead in the second. Gorelik won the next game to tie the set at 5-5, and then won again to go ahead 6-5. However, Alshon was able to force a tie-breaker, and after falling behind 5-1 he stormed back to win the breaker 8-6 to end the match in Chicago's favor.
The Jumbos finish their team season with a 20-3 record. Chicago (21-1) advances to the NCAA Final on Wednesday at 10 am against Case Western Reserve.
Tufts had taken a 2-1 lead over the Maroons in doubles today. Jumbo wins by Niko Hereford and Derin Acaroglu at #3 doubles (8-3) and by Gorelik with classmate Paris Pentousis (8-5) in second doubles gave the Jumbos a 2-0 lead. Alshon and Derek Hsieh won 8-6 at #3 to get Chicago on the board.
Alex Guzhva tied the match up with a fifth singles win for the Maroons 6-2, 6-3. The third and fourth matches then finished in close proximity, with Tufts' Pentousis winning at #4 7-5, 6-1, and Chicago's Hsieh taking the #3 match 7-5, 6-2. That made the team score 3-3, but Chicago went back ahead 4-3 when Shramay Dhawan took a 6-4, 6-3 final on the sixth singles court.
In second singles, Tufts junior Rishabh Sharda dominated in the third set after losing the second for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory which tied the team score at 4-4. That left it to Gorelik and Alshon, who would clinch match point with a service ace.
Tufts' Gorelik and Sharda in snigles, and Sharda with Josh Belandres in doubles will compete in the NCAA Individual Championships in Orlando later this week.
