
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice University
Sarkar Drops NCAA Opener
5/21/2019 2:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis
2019 Singles Championship
Sumit Sarkar dropped a 7-5, 6-3 decision to Oklahoma State's Matej Vocel in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Singles Championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida on Monday.
Sarkar who was ranked 44th in the latest Oracle ITA singles rankings battled the Cowboys' 34th ranked sophomore evenly through the first 11 games before Vocel captured the opening set with the first service break of the match. Vocel jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set and held off a late surge by Sarkar to close to 4-3, winning the last two games to advance to the second round against the tournament's #2 see, J.J. Wolf of Ohio State.
Sarkar ended the season with a combined 21-8 record in singles, including a 17-5 record in dual matches on his way to earning Conference USA Player of the Year honors. His 17 wins matched the second-best at the first singles since 1994 and he was the Owls' first NCAA singles qualifier since 2010.
Sarkar who was ranked 44th in the latest Oracle ITA singles rankings battled the Cowboys' 34th ranked sophomore evenly through the first 11 games before Vocel captured the opening set with the first service break of the match. Vocel jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set and held off a late surge by Sarkar to close to 4-3, winning the last two games to advance to the second round against the tournament's #2 see, J.J. Wolf of Ohio State.
Sarkar ended the season with a combined 21-8 record in singles, including a 17-5 record in dual matches on his way to earning Conference USA Player of the Year honors. His 17 wins matched the second-best at the first singles since 1994 and he was the Owls' first NCAA singles qualifier since 2010.
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