Liu Wins 2003 NCAA Singles Championship
Saturday, May 24, 2003 | Women's Tennis
Stanford freshman Amber Liu upset Tennessee's top-seeded Vilmarie Castellvi 7-6 (5), 6-2, for the NCAA singles crown at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday.
The meeting marked the fourth for the two with Castellvi holding the upper hand coming into the match having won on two of the three previous occasions. Liu's sole victory prior to today came when the two first saw each other on October 11, 2002 in the second round of the Riviera ITA All-American in Pacific Palisades, CA (6-2, 6-4).
The first set would go back and forth with each breaking the other in the early going before things were even at three. From the point, Castellvi overcame double faulting twice in the seventh game and broke Liu for the second time on the day to take a 5-3 lead. With Castellvi serving for the match, Liu broke back to make it 5-4. Between games Liu seemed to fight leg cramping, but showed no effects on court as she held serve to make it 5-5. Liu broke for the third time in the first set when Castellvi double faulted for the sixth time on the day. Serving for the set, Liu trailed 30-0, but battled back to deuce where she could not find a way with three set points before Castellvi forced a tiebreak. Even at four, Liu took over and came away with the first set 7-6 (5).
Liu controlled the second set forcing Castellvi to chase the ball over much of the court. The Pac-10 Freshman of the Year made it 4-1 when Castellvi committed four unforced errors in the fifth game of the second set. A set later with Liu serving for the match, Castellvi fought back to make it 5-2. However, Liu would break back to become the Stanford program's 11th NCAA singles champion.
Liu finished her first season in Palo Alto with a 32-10 record, while Castellvi brought her collegiate career to a close with a 140-51 singles mark. The loss snapped the senior's 24-match win streak, which she brought into today's match.
The last two individuals to win the national title in their first season have both played for Stanford as two-time singles champion Laura Granville was the last to do it in 2000.
