A week to the day after his team’s 4-2 loss in the NCAA semifinals, Marcos Giron ensured he wouldn’t be leaving Athens, Ga. empty handed after all.
The junior won the NCAA singles championship after defeating Pepperdine’s Alex Sarkissian (6-4, 6-1) in Monday’s final.
“This means so much to me,” Giron said in a post-match interview with the national media. “This has to be the biggest tournament win of my career.”
The singles title also earned him a spot in another major tournament – the U.S. Open, where he’ll play as one of the United States Tennis Association’s wild cards.
Giron is UCLA’s first NCAA singles champion since 2006, and the 11th Bruin winner overall. His title run came in dominating fashion. Through six singles matches, he lost just one set, and five of the six matches were straight set wins.
With the win, Giron finished the season at 30-5 in singles, his second straight 30-win season.
Now, the No. 2 ranked singles player in the nation – who likely will be ranked No. 1 when the final polls come out – has options to weigh. Giron could opt to turn professional or return for his upcoming senior season.
“I’m going to play a lot this summer and see where I’m at,” Giron said in a post-match interview with the media. “I’ll take the fall season off but after that I might come back to school.”
The former widely considered No. 1 overall high school recruit appears to have little left to accomplish at UCLA, having won a majority of his matches and climbing to the top two spots in the ITA singles ranking. However, one piece of hardware has proved elusive time and time again over his three years – the NCAA team championship.
Whether he returns for one last run at the title remains to be seen.
Compiled by Chris Kalra, Bruin Sports senior staff.