Dev Varman cruised to victory in under an hour to become the first Indian and only the 13th player in the US collegiate tournament's 124-year history to win consecutive titles. He is just the fourth player to do so in the last 50 years.
He joins a band of players including Georgia's Mikael Pernfors (1984 and 1985) and Matias Boeker (2001 and 2002) to win consecutive NCAA singles title since the 64-player tournament format was adopted in 1977.
Dev Varman, who made his Davis Cup debut for India in February, defeated the 6 feet 9 inches John Isner in last year's final for the NCAA championships.
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He becomes the first player since Dennis Ralston (1963 and 1964) to win consecutive titles without winning at least one of them on his home courts. He also joins Sargin Sargsian (1995) and Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006) as the only players to win the ITA National indoor singles championship and NCAA singles championship in the same season. The win was his 18th career NCAA singles tournament victory, extending his record for most in the current tournament format.
'There was a little bit of a different feel this year than last year,' Dev Varman was quoted as saying on the NCAA Web site.
'Last year there was a bigger crowd and it was No 1 vs No 2 instead of No 1 vs an unseeded player. But that didn't change how I prepared for the match. I was focused and played well.'
The final turned out to be an easy outing for the Indian as he broke the unseeded Smith in the eighth game of the first set before serving it out 6-3. He broke Smith twice in the second set to go up 3-0 before closing out the match 6-3, 6-2.
Dev Varman ends the season with a 44-1 singles record, tying the record for wins in a season he set a year before. He is believed to be the first NCAA singles champion to finish the season with one or fewer losses since Jimmy Connors went undefeated in 1971.
The youngster -- winner of the the first India Abroad Award for Youth Achievement this year -- ends his college career with a 158-27 career singles record, setting the school record for career victories.
'To end my career like this is very special. I wasn't just playing for myself, I was playing for Virginia for the last time. I was playing for my teammates and my coaches too. The loss in the team tournament was so hard to take, but this was the best way to try to cheer everyone up a little bit,' he said.
Photograph: Deepti Patwardhan
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