During the fall season, The Chronicle is polling its readers every week via its Sportswrap newsletter to highlight one Blue Devil athlete’s outstanding performance. This week’s spotlight goes to Cooper Williams of Duke men’s tennis:
Cooper Williams was beyond productive this past weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Sectionals in Chapel Hill.
After falling short in the ITA Regionals and the ITA All-American Championships earlier this year, the Harvard transfer had yet to qualify for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, which start on Nov. 19 in Waco, Texas. With less than two weeks to go, the Chapel Hill tournament was Williams' last chance to secure a championship spot.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore was the only Blue Devil positioned to play singles at the tournament, and he held the No. 2 seed amongst 32 athletes.
After defeating Yale’s Krish Gupta, 6-2, 6-4, and Cornell’s Nathan Mao 6-2, 6-3, Williams advanced to quarterfinals against Ioannis Xilas from Wake Forest. The Duke player once again finished his competition in straight sets, going 7-5, 6-3 to finally qualify for NCAA Singles Championships.
Not to be stopped, Williams turned to doubles competition with his partner Theo Winegar. The duo took down some of the best pairs in the region, reaching the finals against Wake Forest after three wins. When their opponents withdrew from the last match after automatically qualifying, the two Blue Devils became doubles champions.
Williams’ ability to manage playing both singles and doubles in one tournament is a testament to his grit.
“He has shown tremendous growth both on and off the court with each passing week,” said head coach Ramsey Smith. “He is one heck of a competitor.”
Williams’ success doesn’t come as a surprise. As a first-year at Harvard, he proved to be a key asset to the team, becoming just the fourth Crimson player to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA singles draw. He was also crowned ITA Rookie of the Year for the New England region last season and was the first freshman player at Harvard to receive All-America honors since 1998. The transfer’s experience will continue to aid Duke’s team as it wraps up its season at NCAA Championships.
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