NCAA Men's Tennis Championships

This is the American college system, but I figured some people might be interested because lots of foreigners play in it, and plus two players who came out of the system last year (Isner and Anderson) have already reached the top 100 and an ATP final each. Jesse Levine played in college last year too and has since reached the top 150, winning 3 challenger tournaments. Lots of struggling young pros (A few come to mind pretty quickly) probably would've been better off had they gone to college.

Anyways, the NCAA Championships are underway and Somdev Devvarman of India, who plays for the University of Virginia, is playing John-Patrick Smith of Australia, who plays for the University of Tennessee, in the finals. Smith was a top 10 ITF junior player last year. It'll be interesting to see if he goes pro after his results this year. Devvarman is the defending champion. IMO he should've gone pro after winning last year, especially after seeing the success of Isner, Anderson, and Levine, but since he's a senior he'll be graduating, so I'm assuming he'll be joining the tour full-time. He's already played for the India Davis Cup team.

Devvarman beat Alex Clayton (USA) of Stanford in the semifinals, while Smith beat Andre Begemann (Germany) of Pepperdine. Finals are tomorrow. There are some interesting names and possibly some future top pros. Here's the draw:

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/tuls/sports/m-tennis/auto_pdf/2008MSinglesDraw.pdf

I haven't been able to see much of Devvarman...How well will his style translate to the pro tour? Strange that he didn't leave after 1 NCAA title, but a degree is definitely a solid accomplishment.

My college, UGA, won the team championship :D

do you play for a college? if you did get a scholarship were you ranked nationally or state?

I haven't been able to see much of Devvarman...How well will his style translate to the pro tour? Strange that he didn't leave after 1 NCAA title, but a degree is definitely a solid accomplishment.

My college, UGA, won the team championship :D

He is a grinder it might be a rough transition but I would love to see him do well. He is a fighter and classy as well so he is entertaining to watch. I've seen a couple of his matches live the past couple of days...and I'm going to the title match tomorrow.

Well, Somdev took out Smith from Tennessee 6-3, 6-2 in a blowout final. Smith is a serve and volleyer of his 1st serve which was nice to see but he barely made first serves.
In the doubles final, USC's Kaes Van't Hof and Robert Faras beat Ole Miss 7-6(10), 7-6(6). Van't Hof was sensational I look forward to see him playing in the pros.

I haven't been able to see much of Devvarman...How well will his style translate to the pro tour? Strange that he didn't leave after 1 NCAA title, but a degree is definitely a solid accomplishment.

My college, UGA, won the team championship :D

Unusual in this day and age that he didn't go pro after last year, but I think it makes sense. He's a great all around player without any true weapons, just speed, consistency, and tenacity. He will struggle mightily to make a living on the pro tour. He certainly should be able to kick around fairly successfully at the challenger level as long as he wants. I'd say his decision to stay and get his degree was an excellent choice. He will be working at a real job one day and it is very unlikely that he will have significant pro tennis prize money to fall back on.