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Nov. 9, 2008
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Cory Parr and Steven Forman became the first Wake Forest men's tennis players in program history to claim a national title on Sunday, taking down USC's Robert Farah and Steven Johnson in the doubles finals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's National Indoors Tournament. Wake Forest's top-seeded duo faced two tiebreakers against the USC team, but came out on top with a 7-6 (3), 7-6(5) match win to take the title. "I'm really proud of Steve and Cory," Wake Forest head coach Jeff Zinn said. "They played very well. This is such an exciting time for not only those two guys but for our whole team. We got a chance to play on the national stage and we proved that we can beat the best." After battling through a first set tiebreaker, Parr and Forman found themselves in the same situation during the second set. The Demon Deacon team broke USC to go up 5-4. Parr and Forman then held match point but Farah and Johnson fought back to win the game and knot the set score at 5-5. "The momentum slipped a little bit at that point," Zinn said. "But the guys pushed through it. The key was getting ahead early in both tiebreakers. We spend a lot of practice time on tiebreakers because we know that we're going to have them when we face the best players in the country. Steve and Cory were confident going into it and did the right thing." The Indoors event was inaugurated in 1978. Past champions and finalists include current professionals Benjamin Becker (Baylor), James Blake (Harvard), Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford) and Lisa Raymond (Florida). Big Ten legends and Grand Slam finalists Todd Martin (Northwestern) and MaliVai Washington (Michigan) are also among the past champions. The tournament finishes up fall play for Wake Forest. Parr, Forman and the entire Wake Forest squad will now prepare for dual match play which begins in January.
"It always helps the team when your teammates have had such great success," Zinn said. "If they practice hard with these guys, who have proved they are the best in the country, it inspires the whole team to work just as hard to get to that level as well." - www.WakeForestSports.com - |
