University
of Florida senior Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) won the first
national singles title of her illustrious career by gutting out a classic
three-setter in the final of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships at the
Riviera Tennis on Sunday afternoon.
Embree
halted the run of the Virginia Julia Elbaba, who is the nation’s fourth-ranked
freshman, by rallying for the 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, victory and capturing the first
Grand Slam title of the career.
“It
feels great and special to win this my senior year,” Embree shared. “I think I
played a little nervous in the first set and (Elbaba) was just teeing off on my
shots. Then I started being more aggressive and just kept fighting and hanging
in there. She’s a great player and a tough competitor.”
The
Cavalier rookie jumped out and took the first set to put the pressure on
Embree.
“In
the first set I didn’t play as aggressive as I should have and she took
control,” Embree shared.
The
Gator All-American then won the first three games of the second set en route to
winning the second set and forcing a deciding third.
Elbaba
regrouped and took leads of 2-0 and was serving up 4-2 in the final set, before
Embree staged another of her classic comebacks by winning the next four games and
earning the championship.
“The
third set was up and down and got really close towards the end,” Embree said. “I
kept fighting and tried to play aggressive on the big points.”
Embree
becomes the 20th different Gator to win a collegiate Grand Slam title, as well
as the 10th to claim one on the singles court.
Embree
is the fourth different Gator to win the Riviera/ITA All-American Singles
Championship, joining Jill Craybas (1995), Jessica Lehnhoff (2001) and Allie
Will (2011).
“Today
was vintage Lauren Embree – again,” UF associate head coach Dave Balogh
said. “Julia came out hitting the ball as hard as she could and everything was
going in. But once again, Lauren refused to go away. She just hung in there,
competed, fought and scraped. Great players come up big in the clutch moments
and Lauren did that this afternoon. I couldn’t be more proud of the way she
played and represented the Gator Nation today.”
Embree
has been the ultimate team competitor during her accomplished career, seemingly
saving her best for dual matches, as she has provided the NCAA Team
Championship point each of the last two years and was named the NCAA
Championships Most Valuable Player both times. Prior to the 2012 Riviera/ITA
All-American Championships, Embree’s previous best showing at a Grand Slam
singles event was in May of 2011 when she reached the semifinals of the NCAA
Singles Championships and was forced to retire because of injury after she and
Stanford’s Stacey Tan split sets.
Before
taking the court for her singles bout, Embree paired with Gator freshman Danielle
Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) in the final of the consolation doubles draw
and fell short to Pepperdine’s seventh-ranked Lorraine Guillermo and Khunpak Issara,
8-3.
The
next tournament the Gators are scheduled to play is Oct. 19-22 at the ITA
Southeast Regional in Tampa, Fla.
2012
Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships
Riviera
Tennis Club
Pacific
Palisades, Calif.
Sunday,
October 07, 2012
UF
Results Only
Singles,
Final
#6
Lauren Embree (3), Florida d. Julia Elbaba, Virginia, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles,
Consolation Final
#7
Lorraine Guillermo/Khunpak Issara, Pepperdine d. #15 Danielle Collins/Lauren
Embree, Florida, 8-3
