Redlicki Captures National Title
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. – Mike Redlicki is a national champion. The senior from Chicago, Illinois, capped his fantastic fall with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Ohio State’s Mikael Torpegaard, the nation’s top-ranked player, in Sunday’s final at the ITA/USTA National Indoor Championships.
He becomes the third National Indoor singles champion in school history, joining Joey Blake (1986) and Chip Hooper (1981). He is also the fifth ITA national champion overall in singles in school history and the first since Oskar Johansson won the ITA National Clay Court singles title in 2000.
The No. 11 ranked player in the nation, Redlicki defeated five top-20 opponents over four days on his run to the national title, defeating No. 17 Andre Goransson (California), No. 18 Gustav Hansson (Ole Miss), No. 8 Petros Chrysochos (Wake Forest), No. 5 Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech), and finally, Torpegaard.
“Mike played a professional level match and continued to play smart and tough,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “There were several close games that he played well to win. He really earned this national championship. We could not be more excited and we look forward to him continuing to improve going into the spring team season.”
The championship match could not had been any closer as Torpegaard won 59 total points, while Redlicki won 58 total points. However, Redlicki’s play on the big points proved to be the difference.
Redlicki won three of nine break points and saved 11 of 12 break points, including all seven in the second set. He also won eight of 10 on the no-ad (40-40) points, holding serve on five of six such points. He took advantage of a double fault to win the first set and held serve on championship point.
He finishes the fall with a 17-2 record, including an 11-1 record against ranked opponents. He also captured two singles titles, the Southern Intercollegiate in Athens, Georgia, and this weekend’s national indoors title in New York.
ITA/USTA National Indoor Championships:
Sunday Results:
- (Final) No. 7 Mike Redlicki def. No. 1 Mikael Torpegaard (Ohio State), 6-4, 6-3
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