Reims, France – For the fifth consecutive edition, and for the 12th time all-time, Team USA will bring back a gold medal from the Master’U BNP Paribas Championship, the “World Event of University Tennis”.
With a team consisting of top American collegiate players such as Savannah Broadus (Pepperdine), Sebastian Gorzny (Texas), Amelia Honer (UCSB), Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M), Gavin Young (Michigan), and Michael Zheng (Columbia), Team USA was one of eight countries in contention for the gold medal. Thirty former NCAA student-athletes were chosen to represent their countries this year in France.
Facing off against Great Britain in the finals, a team that Team USA has beaten each of the past four gold medal matches, the Americans knew that they needed to start strong in today’s match after Great Britain had looked impressive in their quarterfinal and semifinal matches against Belgium and Australia.
Sending out Broadus, Honer, Gorzny, and Zheng in the singles lineup for today’s gold medal match, Team USA continued its dominance in singles on Sunday picking up wins from Broadus, Gorzny, and Zheng to earn three of the possible four singles points for the third straight match.
Needing just one more point to take the top prize, sights now turned to men’s doubles where Gorzny and Young took on Finn Bass and James Story to try to close the medal match. Earning a late break in the first set, the Americans would win 7-5 before closing out the victory with a 6-2 second set win.
“Tired. Excited. Just relieved to get over the finish line,” Gorzny remarked to on-site staff after the match. “My first time here and Gavin’s second time winning it. But I’m very happy with the result.”
Marking the first Master’U Championship since before 2009 that legendary Team USA head coach Greg Patton (Boise State) was not at the helm of the American delegation, the coaching staff of Robin Stephenson (Washington) and Andrew Rueb (Harvard) did not stumble when they were handed the baton, continuing the dominance of the Americans in Europe.
“I think the biggest thing is we just really enjoy ourselves,” Young stated. “We have a lot of fun out here, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
For a full match-by-match recap of all of the action from these past three days continue reading below:
Match-By-Match Recap
Quarterfinals vs Germany – Team USA wins 6-1
Women’s Singles: Savannah Broadus (USA) def. Gina-Marie Dittmann (GER), 6-1, 6-4Women’s Singles: Mary Stoiana (USA) def. Sina Herrmann (GER), 6-0, 6-3Men’s Singles: Sebastian Gorzny (USA) def. Calvin Muller (GER), 6-4, 6-4Men’s Singles: Benito Sanchez Martinez (GER) def. Michael Zheng (USA), 4-6, 7-5, 10-7Women’s Doubles: Broadus/Honer (USA) def. Boehner/Dittmann (GER), 6-1, 6-1Men’s Doubles: Gorzny/Young (USA) def. Mujakic/Muller (GER), 6-4, 6-4Mixed Doubles: Stoiana/Zheng (USA) def. Boehner/Mujakic (GER), 9-7
Semifinals vs France – Team USA wins 5-1
Women’s Singles: Lucie Nguyen Tan (FRA) def. Amelia Honer (USA), 6-4, 6-3Women’s Singles: Mary Stoiana (USA) def. Alice Robbe (FRA), 5-7, 7-6, 10-6Men’s Singles: Gavin Young (USA) def. Joshua Dous Karpenschif (FRA), 7-6, 6-2Men’s Singles: Michael Zheng (USA) def. William Jucha (FRA), 7-6, 7-5Women’s Doubles: Broadus/Honer (USA) def. Mattel/Nguyen Tan (FRA), 8-5Men’s Doubles: Gorzny/Young (USA) def. Dous Karpenschif/Raquin (FRA), 7-6, 6-2Mixed Doubles: match not played
Finals vs Great Britain – Team USA wins 4-1
Women’s Singles: Amelia Rajecki (GBR) def. Amelia Honer (USA), 1-6, 6-3, 10-8Women’s Singles: Savannah Broadus (USA) def. Eliz Maloney (GBR), 6-3, 7-6Men’s Singles: Sebastian Gorzny (USA) def. Finn Bass (GBR), 6-7, 6-3, 10-6Men’s Singles: Michael Zheng (USA) def. James Story (GBR), 3-6, 6-4, 10-7Women’s Doubles: match not playedMen’s Doubles: Gorzny/Young (USA) def. Bass/Story (GBR), 7-5, 6-2Mixed Doubles: match not played
