Tulsa
Polo All-American Main Draw
Brugues Wins Polo All-American Championship in Straight Sets
10/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 8, 2006
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa's Arnau Brugues completed a spectacular run through the main draw of the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over John Isner of Georgia to earn Tulsa's first tennis national championship.
"I can't believe it right now," said Brugues, "It's like a dream."
Brugues, ranked No. 7 in the nation, picked up the match's only service break after taking Isner to deuce in the decisive game and coming out with the win to take the second set 6-4 and preserve his championship.
Both players held serve through the first set, forcing a tiebreaker which Brugues won 7-5 after falling behind 2-0 early.
The holding serve trend continued throughout the second set until Brugues, with a 5-4 lead, battled back to force deuce in the 10th game and took the next two points for the victory.
Brugues was like a buzzsaw in the main draw, winning six-straight matches without losing a set, defeating the No. 44, No. 34, No. 61, No. 48, No. 13 and No. 2 ranked players in the nation en route to the title.
"Anytime you win a national championship it's very special," said Director of Tennis Vince Westbrook, "I think it puts a stamp on our program that we're the real deal and we're going to be someone to contend with in the future."
Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships
Final
No. 7 Arnau Brugues (Tulsa) def. No. 2 John Isner (Georgia); 7-6 (5), 6-4
Post-Match Quotes:
Opening statement...
"I thought that guy was better than me so I just tried to have fun, and it worked."
On Isner serving compare to previous matches...
"I don't know how he played in the other matches. Maybe he missed a lot of first serves. I can not compare."
On catching up with Isner's serve...
"At the beginning he had a really good serve. It took a little bit to get used to it, but I think by the end of the first set I made more returns and started getting better."
On how big winning this championship is...
"I can't believe it right now. It's like a dream. On the first day I just wanted to win some matches because I was playing at home. I never thought I was going to win. I'm so happy right now."
Director of Tennis Vince Westbrook
On the importance of winning to the University of Tulsa...
"Anytime you win a national championship it's very special. I think it puts a stamp on our program that we're the real deal and we're going to be someone to contend with in the future. I think that Arnau is one of the best players in the country, but we've got eight other guys that are very good. Our results were very good here and I'm happy with the performance of our team. We want to win every match. We beat the defending NCAA champions in doubles. We had some really, really good wins. Our No. 1 doubles team loses to Michigan who is in the finals. I think that as we move forward towards the regionals next week, I think that we're going to be ready to go."
On the importance to Arnau as an individual...
"He's made a lot of mental jumps this week. He's always had the physical talent, it's just making the jump and being able to put it together back-to-back-to-back, and we saw him make those adjustments this week. He played a lot of different types of players, and as he got into the matches it was just like a chess game. He figured it out and kept his composure, which is the key with him. We usually don't worry about who he's playing, we worry about him. He kept his composure the whole week so we're very happy and I think he made some huge jumps in his game this week, along with the team. I think that as we move toward the future, we expect that we can compete with anyone in the country, every one of us, not just Arnau."
Players Mentioned
