University of North Carolina Athletics
Future Bright For Blumberg
May 29, 2017 | Men's Tennis
By Vira Halim
ATHENS, Ga. -- University of North Carolina freshman Will Blumberg became the first Tar Heel to play in the NCAA men's singles championship. He fell short of the title, losing to national champion Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski 4-6, 6-7(2).
Neither player could break serve until Kwiatkowski hung on to take the ninth game in the first set to take the lead 5-4. Kwiatkowski held serve in the 10th game to win the first set 6-4.
The ACC showdown in the singles final came down to a tiebreaker after Blumberg and Kwiatkowski tied it up 6-6. Kwiatkowski won the tiebreaker 7-5 and the best-of-three sets match.
He fell short of the title, but Blumberg has drawn quite the appreciation of tennis fans in Athens. Amid the cheers from those clad in Carolina blue were also cheers from local tennis fans and even fans of the team the Tar Heels defeated in the semifinals.
“We were really rooting for him to win,” said long-time Georgia fan Denise Glenn. Glenn and her friends have been coming to the tennis championships in Athens since the 70s. “He is so focused and efficient. Every single day, he came out and did it. It was amazing to watch him.”
Blumberg made North Carolina history in a town already chock full of college tennis history.
“It's incredible. Honestly, I think that one in every four years, the finals should be here,” said Blumberg. “To be honest, I didn't really know that many people cared about college tennis. When we were playing Georgia, we actually came out on top. It was an incredible atmosphere., and there's been so many people here, it's just been incredible.”
Blumberg was quick to give credit to his opponent Kwiatkowski, whom he has played multiple times throughout the regular season and in the team championship.
“Thai's obviously an incredible player,” said Blumberg. “Full, full, full congrats to him. I'll be right there cheering him on at the Open. No excuses for sure today, he played better than me. He's just a great player, and he did a good job staying aggressive early in the point, so all credit to him.”
Kwiatkowski displayed consistent dominance throughout the singles tournament, only dropping a single set in the quarterfinals to No. 5 seed Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech.
The Virginia senior becomes the third Cavalier to bring home a singles title. Somdev Devvarman won back-to-back titles in 2007-2008 and Ryan Shane won in 2015.
Blumberg defeated Ohio State freshman JJ Wolf, Andre Goransson of California, and No. 6 seed Alfredo Perez of Florida in the tournament.
On his path to the singles championship, Kwiatkowski defeated Julian Cash of Oklahoma State, Daniel Valent of Vanderbilt, No. 1 seed Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State, Eubanks, and No. 8 seed Tom Fawcett of Stanford.
The future is bright for the freshman from Greenwich, Connecticut. Coach Sam Paul and the Tar Heel faithful can look forward to a few more years of Blumberg lighting up the courts at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill.
“I think the best coaches in the country are at North Carolina,” said Blumberg. “The team plays with so much heart.”
