University of North Carolina Athletics
Blumberg Makes History By Reaching NCAA Semis
May 27, 2017 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – With a straight-sets win on Saturday afternoon, freshman William Blumberg became the first Tar Heel men's tennis player to reach the semifinals of the NCAA singles tournament. Blumberg, from Greenwich, Conn., beat North Florida's Jack Findel-Hawkins 6-4, 6-4 to advance in action at the University of Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
“We are so excited for Will to be moving forward and look forward to playing tomorrow,” UNC coach Sam Paul said after the match.
Blumberg holds at love to d. Findel-Hawkins 6-4, 6-4; Blumberg is UNC's first NCAA Singles Semifinalist in history #NCAATennis pic.twitter.com/0Skv1BKrm5
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) May 27, 2017
The Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA team tournament and the ITA National Rookie of the Year, Blumberg improved to 30-2 this spring with Saturday's win. He'll face Mississippi State's Nuno Borges on Sunday for a spot in Monday's finals. Borges, a sophomore who was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, is the No. 2 overall seed in the field.
"William played a great mental match today, and he continues to get better with every match,” said Tripp Phillips, UNC's associate head coach.
Blumberg takes 1st 6-4 w/running BH pass pic.twitter.com/8LorNWNbI4
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) May 27, 2017
On Friday, Blumberg became the fifth UNC player to reach the quarterfinals on a total of six occasions, but none of the others had advanced beyond that point.
“I thought I returned pretty well," Blumberg said.." I got a bunch of chances and created a bunch of chances for myself. He [Findel-Hawkins] is an unbelievable player and has had an unbelievable tournament. He has a massive serve, a good forehand and his backhand puts on a
lot of pressure. I did a good job controlling his serve and getting to the point, then when I was at point I was staying aggressive.”
Making history didn't mean Blumberg got the rest of the day off. Later in the afternoon, he and junior Robert Kelly played a quarterfinals doubles match, falling to Wake Forest's Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim in a close contest. The two split sets, with WFU winning the first 7-6(6), UNC taking the second 6-3 and the Demon Deacons winning the tiebreaker, 13-11.
By reaching the quarterfinals, they earned All-America honors for the season.
Players Mentioned
