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Monday's Championship Matches Set for NCAA Tennis Singles and Doubles Tournament

J.P Smith becomes the first freshman to advance to the NCAA Singles finals since 2002.
J.P Smith becomes the first freshman to advance to the NCAA Singles finals since 2002.

May 25, 2008

Tulsa, Oklahoma - Two past champions will be in the finals of the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Singles Championships on Monday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on The University of Tulsa campus.

No. 1 seed Somdev Devvarman will look to defend his national title in his third straight finals appearance, while the 2005 NCAA Women's Champion, Zuzana Zemenova, will also look to add her second singles crown.

Devvarman, a straight set winner over Stanford's Alex Clayton, 6-4, 7-6 (3), will face his second true freshman in as many days as J.P. Smith of Tennessee advanced to the championship match. Smith claimed a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Peppedine's Andre Begemann.

On the women's side, unseeded Zuzana Zemenova of Baylor defeated the No. 1 seed, Arkansas' Aurelija Miseviciute, in straight sets, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Zemenova will be looking for her second NCAA singles title as she won the crown as a freshman in 2005. She'll face Georgia Tech's Amanda McDowell for the women's title. McDowell defeated Auburn's Fani Chifchieva in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

In doubles play, No. 2 seed Robert Farah and Kaes Van't Hof of Southern Cal went three grueling sets with tie-breakers in each to defeat Mississippi's tandem of Bram ten Berge and Matthias Wellermann to prevent an all Ole Miss final. Ole Miss won the first set 7-6 (5), while the Trojans won the final two 7-6 (5), 7-6 (10) to advance to the school's ninth all-time doubles championship match and the first time since 2000.

Another Mississippi duo will be USC's opponent on Monday, as the No. 4 seeded team of Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit defeated Texas A&M's Austin Krajicek and Conor Pollack, 6-2, 6-4.

For the women, the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams in the nation will collide for the national title as UCLA's Riza Zalameda and Tracy Lin will face Fresno State's Melnaie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe. The team of Zalameda and Lin defeated another Fresno State pair on Sunday in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, Gloria and Rowe ousted Notre Dame's brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft, 6-1, 7-5.

Both doubles championship matches will begin at 12 noon, while the women's singles championship gets underway at 2 pm, and the men's title match at 4 pm.