Thai-Son Kwiatkowski Advances to NCAA Singles Semifinals

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May 27, 2017

ATHENS, Ga. – Virginia men’s tennis senior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) advanced to the semifinals of the 2017 NCAA Singles Championship with a quarterfinal victory on Saturday (May 27) at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

One day after downing the top seed in the tournament, Ohio State’s Mikael Torpegaard, Kwiatkowski defeated fifth-seeded Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Eubanks took the first set by winning a deuce point to break Kwiatkowski in the final game. Kwiatkowski roared back by breaking Eubanks twice in the second set to win 6-2. Kwiatkowski took a 3-1 lead in the second set with both players holding serve the rest of the way as the Cavalier held on for the 6-4 victory.

“I just had to win the big points,” Kwiatkowski said. “We had the most deuce points I’ve ever played and Chris is so powerful you always have to be focused, you can’t take any points off. He’s super difficult to play and is the ACC player of the year for a reason. I just had to get a few points here and there or it could have gone either way.”

Kwiatkowski, a 9-16 seed, will face Stanford’s Tom Fawcett, the No. 8 seed, in the semifinals on Sunday, May 29 at 12 p.m.

Kwiatkowski and Eubanks also faced one another during the ACC season with Kwiatkowski winning 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), handing Eubanks, the two-time ACC Player of the Year, his only loss in conference play this season.

Kwiatkowski advances to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship for the second time in his career, matching his finish during his 2015 sophomore season. He is vying to win the fourth singles title in program history, attempting to join Somdev Devvarman (2007 and 2008) and Ryan Shane (2015) as an NCAA Singles champion.