Florida State wins first-ever ACC tennis championship
ACC photo
By Jack Oliaro
Seminoles.com
CARY, N.C. –The No. 17 Florida State men’s tennis team claimed its first-ever ACC Championship with a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over back-to-back defending national champions and No. 2-ranked Virginia.
The Sunday afternoon victory by the Seminoles snapped Virginia’s 62-match winning streak over ACC opponents dating back to Feb. 13, 2021.
Florida State advanced to the championship match by upsetting No. 2 seed Wake Forest, 4-3, staving off a three-point comeback from the Demon Deacons. The Seminoles grabbed the early 1-0 lead after clinching the doubles point, and quickly took a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-2 win from Alex Bulte on Court 6 over WF’s Jamieson Nathan. FSU’s No. 5 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc pushed the lead to 3-0 with a straight-set 7-5, 6-4, win over No. 31 Fillippo Moroni.
In the championship match, the day began with a strong performance in the doubles round from Bulte and Jamie Connel. The pair won three straight games off a 3-2 lead to put the Seminoles within reach. Virginia took the doubles point by claiming victories at Courts 1 and 2.
Virginia extended its lead to 2-0 with a straight-sets win on Court 5 before Connel put together one of his finest performances of the season as he defeated the No. 51 player in the nation in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (0) to put the Seminoles on the board.
Youcef Rihane played a tight three-set match but ultimately dropped his match to the 45-ranked singles player in America to put Virginia within one point of the championship.
Loris Pourroy strung together a dominant 6-2 first set before dropping the second to set up the deciding set. Pourroy used incredible variation in his play to defeat the No. 36 player in the nation 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 to put FSU back within one. The next player to step up was Bulte as he fought from a set down and dropped only five games in the final two sets to tie the match at 3-3.
The attention turned towards Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc and UVA’s Chris Rodesch. The titanic battle between two top-five players in the nation would decide the ACC Championship. Cornut-Chauvinc won the first set tiebreaker 7-4 before Rodesch responded with an identical second set tiebreaker 7-4. Rodesch began the championship set up 5-2 and one game of Virginia’s fourth straight conference title.
Cornut-Chauvinc displayed one of the greatest moments in the tournament’s history as he won five straight games to give the Seminoles their first-ever ACC Championship with a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-5 victory. Cornut-Chauvinc, who was 4-0 in the ACC Championships to improve to 23-2 in singles this season, was named the Championships MVP.
Florida State is the first ACC champion to win four matches in four days since the conference tournament expanded in 1992 to include a fourth day. The Seminoles earned the ACC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and will find out their seeding and bracket information during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Tuesday 6 p.m.
