NCAA champion Giron wins collegiate U.S. Open, Tiafoe falls in juniors
By Ricky Dimon
Marcos Giron’s first taste of the U.S. Open was a sweet one. The UCLA Bruin earned a wild card into the main draw of the men’s singles event and lost to No. 1 American John Isner in three competitive sets. More than a week later, Giron capped off a title-winning run in the inaugural American Collegiate Invitational.
In Saturday’s final, the reigning NCAA champion defeated Peter Kobelt of Ohio State 6-1, 6-3.
“This is a place I definitely want to be coming back to a lot in the future,” Giron assured. “This is the top of tennis, and I’m definitely looking forward to coming back and proving myself.”
On the women’s side of the collegiate tournament, North Carolina’s Jamie Loeb beat Julia Elbaba of Virginia 7-5, 6-1. Loeb took complete control with a service break in the second game of the second set and never looked back.
“I think I started off pretty slow,” the winner said. “It was pretty hot out there, and it took me awhile to adjust to that. But as I got into the match I was able to get more serves in.”
As for the juniors, the boys’ final will pit Quentin Halys of France against Australian Omar Jasika. Halys outlasted highly-touted American Francis Tiafoe 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(6) and Jasika got a retirement from Germany’s Jan Choinski while leading 6-3, 4-1. Tiafoe had two match points–one with Halys serving at 5-6 in the third set and another in the ensuing tiebreaker–but the College Park, Md. native could not convert.
“The guy played unbelievable,” Tiafoe credited. “It wasn’t so much that I lost it than he won it. There was nothing I could really do there. It’s tough to end here, but I fought in all my matches. It’s just tough.”
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.
Topics: Francis Tiafoe, Jamie Loeb, John Isner, Julia Elbaba, Junior Tennis, Marcos Giron, Ncaa, Quentin Halys, Tennis, US Open
RICKY REPORTS ON #NCAA CHAMPION @marcos_giron93 WHO WINS THE INAUGURAL COLLEGIATE @usopen, @FTiafoe FALLS IN JUNIORS- http://t.co/iT75hU3IsT