Rizza Defeats Radman in NCAA Singles Championship
May 24, 2006 | Men's Tennis
May 24, 2006
The University of Virginia's Rylan Rizza defeated Louisville's Slavko Radman 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championship at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, California.
Radman, U of L's top seeded player is ranked No. 39 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings. Rizza played at the No. 2 spot for the seventh-ranked Cavaliers and is No. 54 in the nation.
"Slavko played very will in the first and third sets," said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma. "He played well enough to win. He got down early in the third set and was playing catch-up the rest of the way, which is difficult to do against an opponent like Rylan Rizza who could very likely finish the season as an All-American."
Radman (Split, Croatia) finishes his junior season with an 18-12 overall record and was 13-9 dual matches, playing mostly at No. 1 for the Cardinals. He was a BIG EAST All-Tournament team selection and was named the league's Most Outstanding Player of the tournament - he also earned the honor in the 2005 Conference USA Tournament. Radman became only the second Louisville player selected to compete in the singles championship and the first since Michael Mather, who represented U of L in 1998.
"Slavko has had arguably one of the most successful seasons in U of L history and he should finish as one of the top 50 players in the nation," said Ecarma. "He has met a lot of challenges that have come his way and has steadily improved all year. I look for him to be one of the top 20 players in the nation next year."
U of L finished the 2006 season with a 19-8 overall record and at No. 27 in the ITA team rankings. The Cardinals won the 2006 BIG EAST championship and achieved a program-best No. 12 ranking during the season.
Players Mentioned
