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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After a two and a half hour rain delay leaving him to contemplate his semi-final matchup, Santa Clara's Ashot Khacharyan gathered himself and solidified his spot in Tuesday's singles final. The junior defeated Gonzaga University's Alvaro Nazal 6-1, 6-3 on Monday afternoon at the ITA Northwest Regional Championship event to earn the right to play for the tournament's top prize.
The winner of the Northwest Regional on Tuesday morning advances to New York City for the ITA National Indoor Championship. The 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships is at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Nov. 6-9.
"We are really proud of Ashot to get the finals," said Santa Clara men's tennis head coach Derek Mills. "He's proving to everyone that he's one of the best players in the country right now. When he plays motivated tennis, he can beat anyone."
Khacharyan will do battle with Stanford's Tom Fawcett at 9 am on Tuesday. The final will take place in Palo Alto, Calif. on Stanford's campus. A live stream of the final will be aired on Stanford's athletic department website as well.
Fawcett, a Stanford freshman, has made quick work of his opponents throughout the tournament, coasting to multiple two-set victories. In his semi-final match, Fawcett defeated his teammate David Hsu. Coming into the tournament, Fawcett was the No. 9 seed in his bracket while Khacharyan was eight sports behind at No. 17 in his respective bracket.
En route to the final, Khacharyan cruised past his first three opponents, winning each match in two sets. In the round of 16, the junior from Sochi, Russia slipped and dropped the first set 6-4 but rallied to take sets two and three 6-1, 6-2 from the University of Washington's Jake Douglass. Khacharyan claimed another impressive three set victory in his quarterfinal matchup with West Coast Conference foe Sem Verbeek. The Santa Clara junior took down the Pacific Tiger 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.