Shibahara Falls in Riviera/ITA Final
October 09, 2016 | Women's Tennis
LOS ANGELES - Freshman women's tennis player Ena Shibahara's impressive win streak at the 2016 Riviera/ITA All-American Women's Championships came to an end on Sunday, as Ohio State's Francesca Di Lorenzo took home the singles title in straight sets at the Riviera Country Club.
Both players gave the standing-room only crowd plenty to cheer about, but in the end it was Di Lorenzo that emerged victorious, taking a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Shibahara. The victory makes Di Lorenzo the first player from Ohio State to win the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Singles Championship.
"It feels unbelievable," said Di Lorenzo. "Every tournament, I try to go out and play the best I can and compete the best I can and see where it goes from there. This wasn't expected, and I'm really happy to be in the position I'm standing in right now."
The first set was a back-and-forth affair, with Shibahara taking an early 3-2 lead, only for Di Lorenzo to battle back and win four of the last six games to take the set 6-4. The second set saw the two players exchange the first four games, before Di Lorenzo surged ahead 4-2. Shibahara answered back to draw within 4-3, but Di Lorenzo held serve for 5-3 and then broke Shibahara to clinch the set and match, 6-3.
"I just tried to keep things physical," said Di Lorenzo. "I knew she had played 10 previous matches coming into today, so thought she may be a little tired, so wanted to keep (the match) as physical as possible and try to get some depth, because she likes to stay on the baseline and take the ball early. I knew I had stay offensive in this match and I think I did that pretty well and I played my game."
Shibahara is the fourth UCLA player to play in the ITA All-American final since the tournament's inception in 1983, joining Robin Anderson (2013 & 2014), Chanelle Van Nguyen (2014) and Keri Phebus (1994). Anderson is the only Bruin champion at Riviera, taking the crown over teammate Chanelle Van Nguyen in 2014.
"I'm obviously very proud of Ena for having such a fabulous week," said UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. "It was a great experience for her to see where she stacks up against the best in the country. She showed us so much this week. She's a great a fighter with a tremendous spirit. I'm looking forward to seeing her develop and improve during her college career."
Shibahara went 11-1 in her run to the Riviera final, winning 10-straight matches starting in the pre-qualifying draw.
More information about the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships can be found on the ITA's Event Page.
Players Mentioned
