USC’s Sarmiento Wins ITA Regional; Ex-Trojan Farah Takes Two Golds

 

It was a big few days for three-time defending NCAA national champion USC as one current player won a huge ITA regional and a former star won two gold medals at the Pan Am Games. 

 

USC sophomore Ray Sarmiento topped off his tear through the ITA Southwest Regional Championships with yet another straight-set victory to claim the singles title for the Trojan at Pepperdine in Malibu. He beat Francis Alcantara of Fresno State, 6-4, 6-3, in the final to become the first Trojan to win a regional singles title since 2000. 

 

The No. 2 seed in the tourney, Sarmiento never gave up more than four games in a set to anyone but No. 3 seeded Finn Tearney of host Pepperdine during the semifinals. Against Alcantara, Sarmiento was similarly dominant as he picked up his sixth consecutive straight-set win of the year to bring a long-awaited regional championship to Troy. No Trojan has won a singles title at the ITA regionals since Andrew Park went back-to-back in the 1999 and 2000 regional tournaments.

 

At the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, former USC All-American Farah of Colombia stood on the winner’s stand twice. The former NCAA doubles and two-time team champion at USC beat Brazil's Rogerio Dutra with a smooth 6-3, 6-4 victory to round out his run of straight-set domination in the singles bracket at the Pan American Games. He also combined forces with his trusty Colombian teammate Juan Sebastian Cabal to pin up another powerful win with the pair's 6-0, 6-4 gold-medal victory over countrymen Camponano/Quiroz.