The Tribune

JUSTIN Roberts helped the University of South Florida Bulls win the American Athletic Conference Championship title on Sunday, as they defeated in-state rival UCF 4-1.

Roberts, a junior, clinched the match on court two as the Bulls utilised four straight-set wins to put away UCF in the championship.

Seniors Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (Donetsk, Ukraine) and Sasha Gozun (Orhei, Moldova) will finish their careers with an unprecedented four conference titles. In his final title match, Gozun was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.

The match kicked off with doubles where the Knights finished a 6-3 set on two before Kalyuzhnyy and freshman Jakub Wojcik (Delray Beach, Florida) answered on court three in a 6-4 comeback. Just seconds later the Knights would clinch on a deuce point to go up 6-4 on court one. The Bulls came out swinging in singles, and fought hard on every court. Five Bulls took their first set, with Gozun easily putting away his opponent, 6-4, 6-3 to get USF on the board.

With the score tied 1-1, USF had all irons in the fire working leads on three courts, and a second-set lead on another. Kalyuzhnyy erased a 4-2 deficit to win his first set, 6-4.

Kalyuzhnyy, Wojcik and Roberts were all positioned for the Bulls win in their second sets. Kalyuzhnyy and Roberts went up 5-2 and Wojcik fought in a tiebreak. All three wins would mean the title.

Kalyuzhnyy went first, defeating his opponent 6-2 and the crowd was split watching Wojcik’s tiebreak and Roberts’ match points. UCF’s Danny Kerznerman threatened Roberts’ lead with a break and a hold, but Roberts would get a chance to serve again.

Wojcik took his tiebreak to nine points before defeating Kalman Boyd, 6-1, 7-6(7), leaving three courts still in play, but only one point needed for the victory. Everyone looked to Roberts who was up 6-4, 5-4, and 40-0 serving. With his final serve, Roberts clinched the American Conference Championship for the Bulls.