Florida tennis sophomores Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) helped the United States to a runner-up finish in the fifth annual Master’U BNP Paribas, an international collegiate competition held in Rouen, France.
The U.S. team was coached by Greg Patton, the head coach of the Boise State University men’s tennis team, who helped lead the U.S. to the 2009 title, and Mark Guilbeau, the head women’s tennis coach at the University of Virginia.
The American squad opened play with a 7-0 quarterfinal victory over Ireland, as Will won at No. 1 women’s singles and in the women’s doubles match teamed with Maria Sanchez of USC. Bangoura posted a straight-sets win at No. 2 men’s singles and combined with Notre Dame’s Kristy Frilling for the mixed doubles victory.
The top-seeded Americans moved on to face No. 3-seed Germany in the semifinals, and Will posted a strong straight-sets win at No. 2 women’s singles.
“Her court coverage, depth, ball movement and pace were extraordinary,” Guilbeau wrote on usta.com. “Serving has also been a strength, and Allie continued this pattern with great percentage and placement on her serve.”
In Will and Sanchez’s doubles match, the duo battled back from a slow start before dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, but bounced back with a 6-3 second-set win to force a 10-point super-breaker for the third set. The USA pair jumped to a 4-1 lead, but momentum swung back to the German side, which rebounded for a 10-8 win to take the match.
With a late finish and the U.S. having already clinched against Germany, Bangoura and Frilling’s mixed doubles match was canceled.
In the final against host team France, the Americans came up on the short end of a 5-1 score, with Will providing the only point for the U.S.
“Our American players all played their hearts out today, but the home crowd enthusiasm, the phenomenal play by the French and their ability to dominate on the red clay was a little too much for us,” Patton wrote on usta.com. “Big kudos to Allie Will, who won her singles match today. She is such an amazing, focused and intelligent competitor, and she loves the battle.”
