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Norrie Into Round of 16
Sophomore Cameron Norrie moves into the Round of 16 at the NCAA Singles Championship.
FORT WORTH, Texas – All-American Cameron Norrie punched his ticket to the Round of 16 for the second straight season, while freshman Alex Rybakov’s season came to an end on Friday in the NCAA Division I Men’s Singles Championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The No. 5 seed Norrie claimed a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 victory over No. 40 Sam Shropshire of Northwestern, while No. 24 Rybakov fell to No. 13 Skander Mansouri, 7-6(4), 6-4, in the Round of 32. Norrie becomes the sixth Horned Frog to earn All-America honors twice in singles action in program history.
Norrie got off to a quick start in his match by jumping out to a 4-0 lead over Shropshire. The Wildcat would break Norrie to make it 4-1, but the Auckland, New Zealand native broke back and then held to take the opening set, 6-1.
Shropshire duplicated Norrie’s hot start in the second set by going up 3-0 before Norrie got on the board. Shropshire continued his streak by winning the next three straight games to win the set, 6-1, and force the third set. The loss did not detour Norrie as he began the third set up 5-0 before Shropshire held serve to make it 5-1. Norrie finished out the match with an ace on deuce point to seal the victory and move into the Round of 16.
Rybakov found himself down 3-1 to start his match with Mansouri before winning three straight games to take a 4-3 lead. The duo would then each continue to hold serve and trade points until the pair were all knotted at 6-6 and sent the set into a tiebreaker. Mansouri jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker before Rybakov fought back to even it out at 3-3. Mansouri proved to have the upper hand and won four of the next five points to take the tiebreaker and the first set.
Rybakov was once again trailing 3-1 in the second set before staging another comeback to even out the match at 4-4 after breaking Mansouri twice. The freshman could not hold on, as Mansouri held and then broke Rybakov to take the set, 6-4, and the match in straight sets.
Quotes of the Match
Head Coach David Roditi
“Not a great day for Alex (Rybakov), but also credit to Skander (Mansouri) for taking advantage of his opportunities. Alex had a great season and every time he competes there is something to learn from it and I’m sure this won’t be any different. He’s a smart guy and he will get what he needs from this match and move on. Now Cameron (Norrie) gets to carry the TCU flag and continue to battle.”
Sophomore Cameron Norrie
On the match and numerous service breaks
“With all the service breaks it was important to stay focused. I have played him (Shropshire) twice and beat him both times so I had some extra confidence. I tried to hit my service shots and stay physical and focused, and I managed to get over the line.â€
On the difference between the three sets
“He’s (Shropshire) a patchy player. In the second set, he seemed a lot more focused and was able to win more games. He dropped focus for a few games in the first and third sets and I was able to take advantage.â€
Results
NCAA Individual Championships
May 26, 2016 at Tulsa, Okla.
(Michael D. Case Tennis Center)
#5 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #30 Sam Shropshire (Northwestern) 6-1, 1-6, 6-1
#13 Skander Mansouri (Wake Forest) def. #24 Alex Rybakov (TCU) 7-6(4), 6-4
Up Next
Norrie will play in his Round of 16 match on Friday, May 27, as the sophomore will take on the winner of the match between #47 Dominic Cotrone of USF and #51 Gabriel Friedrich of South Carolina at the Case Tennis Center.