Liam Draxl Ends Run in NCAA Championship Semifinals
ORLANDO, Fla. – Nearly three weeks after his team was eliminated, Liam Draxl’s first full collegiate season comes to an end in the semifinals of singles competition at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
The top-seeded Kentucky sophomore fell 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-1 to No. 6 seed Sam Riffice of Florida on Thursday at USTA National Campus.
Draxl finishes with a record of 25-3 after dropping a third set for the first time all season. The Newmarket, Ontario, native is the first Wildcat to reach the Final Four since Eric Quigley in 2012.
Draxl has held the No. 1 spot in the ITA Singles Rankings since April 14 and will be officially named an ITA All-American in June. The 19-year-old posted a 2-0 record against the nation’s No. 1 ranked players at the time, including a 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 straight-set victory over South Carolina’s Daniel Rodrigues on April 2.
Rodrigues, who entered the NCAA Championship as the No. 2 seed, will play Riffice for the national title on Friday. Riffice’s Florida squad captured the program’s first team crown last weekend.
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