Sayer and Watson will take on UNC's top duo in the doubles portion Thursday.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Radford’s Martin Sayer (Hong Kong/Sagemont Virtual) fell to No. 18 Enrique Olivares of East Tennessee State, 7-5, 6-4, Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Singles Championships at the Mitchell Tennis Center on the Texas A&M campus.
In the opening set, which lasted well over an hour, Sayer and Olivares traded the first four games without holding serve to find themselves tied, 2-2. With the Radford senior leading 5-4, Olivares strung together three straight games to win the set, 7-5.
After Sayer grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the second, Olivares won six of the next eight games to clinch the set and the match. Olivares will face the victor of Bradley Klahn (Stanford) and Steven Moneke (Ohio State) in the Round of 32, Thursday.
Despite the loss, Sayer concludes his singles career as the all-time winningest player in Radford men’s tennis history with a 114-25 record.
Sayer, who entered his fourth straight NCAA Singles Championships ranked 102nd in the most recent ITA Rankings, finishes his conference career with an impressive 24-1 mark.
In the fall, he was the only current student-athlete named to the league’s “Best of the Best” as part of the Big South’s 25th anniversary celebration.
A mainstay in the national rankings since arriving on campus, Sayer holds a 17-13 mark against nationally-ranked players.
At the end of the regular season, Sayer joined former Highlander standout James Lloyd (2005-08) as the only players in school history to earn four all-conference singles honors. He also becomes Radford’s first three-time selection to the league’s all-conference doubles team.
A member of the Hong Kong Davis Cup team, Sayer advanced to the NCAA Singles Tournament Round of 32 as a freshman and sophomore.
Sayer and his doubles partner Zack Watson (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) earned the league’s automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Doubles Championships and will take on North Carolina’s 17th ranked team of Clay Donato and Taylor Fogleman Thursday.
The doubles match times are still to be determined based on individuals taking part in both singles and doubles.
Ranked 54th in the country, Sayer and Watson have won 17 of their last 18 decisions and will carry an impressive 19-2 mark into the 2009 NCAA Doubles Tournament. To go along with becoming the first Highlander duo in school history to advance to the doubles portion, Sayer and Watson climbed to as high as 48th in the nation earlier this season.
Despite the Highlanders falling to Duke at the NCAA Regional in Knoxville, Tenn., Sayer and Watson cruised to an 8-3 win over No. 71 Kiril Dimitrov and Alain Michel in the top doubles match.
Since teaming up in 2006, Sayer and Watson have won 41 of their 49 matches. The only setbacks for the two-time all-conference duo this season came against teams ranked inside the ITA Top 50.