Blaz Rola
| School: |
Ohio State University |
| Year: |
Senior |
| Home Town: |
Ptuj |
| Home State: |
|
| Home Country: |
Slovenia |
| High School: |
Gimnazija Ptuj |
| Height: |
6-4 |
| Weight: |
175 lbs. |
| Birth Date: |
|
| Dominant Hand: |
Right |
| Major: |
|
| Singles Record: |
26-1 |
| Doubles Record: |
28-1 |
Ohio State Career Honors - 2013 NCAA Singles Champion, 2012 NCAA Doubles Champion, 2013 Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year, 2011 ITA All-American Championships Doubles Champion, 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor Doubles Champion, 2011 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Singles Champion ... four-time ITA All-American (2011 singles; 2012 singles and doubles; 2013 singles) ... 2011 NCAA All- Tournament Team at No. 3 doubles ... 2011 ITA National Player to Watch ... 2011 ITA Midwest Region Rookie of the Year ... unanimous 2011, 2012 and 2013 First Team All-Big Ten ... 2011 Big Ten Freshman of the Year ... nine-time Big Ten Athlete of the Week honoree ... 2011 ITA Scholar-Athlete ... 2012 Academic All-Big Ten honoree ... 2011, 2012 and 2013 Ohio State Scholar-Athlete. 2012-13 (Junior Season) - 2013 NCAA Singles Champion ... ITA All-American ... First Team All-Big Ten ... Big Ten Athlete of the Week (April 10, 2013 and Feb. 20, 2013) ... with career total of 215 wins, sits in seventh place on Ohio State all-time combined career wins list ... suffered only one loss on the season (32-1) to Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jared Hiltzik of Illinois, 6-4, 7-5 (April 12) ... singles record includes 6-4, 6-2 win vs. No. 7 Jarmere Jenkins of No. 1 Virginia at ITA Team In- door Championships in Seattle, Wash., (Feb. 17); also beat Jenkins in NCAA championship final in Champaign, Ill., 7-6, 6-4 (May 22) and No. 7 Emilio Gomez of No. 5 USC in the NCAA quarterfinals (May 18) ... split time at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, posting 17-1 mark at one singles and 8-0 ledger at No. 2 position ... in doubles, paired with Kevin Metka at third position most of the season and posted 21-0 record ... individually in doubles, 28-1 overall, including 25-1 record at No. 3 doubles ... suffered only loss of season at third doubles vs. Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson of USC in quarterfinal of the 2013 NCAA Team Championship (May 18) by a 9-8 (7-3) score ... Ohio State Scholar-Athlete. 2011-12 (Sophomore Season) - 2012 NCAA Doubles Champion with former Buckeye Chase Buchanan; pair became first tandem in NCAA history to win all three major collegiate tournaments - D'Novo/ITA All-American Doubles championship in October and prestigious USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Doubles championship in November, in addition to NCAA title; pair posted 14-0 record en route to three titles ... Rola and Buchanan finished season 36-4, including 22-4 dual record, all played at No. 1 position ... posted 7-1 doubles mark during Big Ten regular season and boast a 16-2 record against nationally ranked opponents with Buchanan ... overall recorded a 43-5 record in doubles ... ITA All-American in singles and doubles ... First Team All-Big Ten honoree ... finished season fifth in the nation in singles and with senior Chase Buchanan, formed the No. 1 doubles team in the country ... collected six Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors ... concluded the season with a team-leading 37 singles wins (seven losses), which included a 25-4 dual mark ... finished Big Ten Conference regular season with 8-2 record ... posted 9-2 and 14-2 records at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively ... boast a 17-6 record vs. nationally ranked opponents ... 42 doubles wins placed him second in Ohio State records book (behind Chase Buchanan); tied for fifth in single-season singles victories (2011) with 41 ... posted 5-1 singles record during NCAA championships (Team and Singles May 13-27), including run to the singles semifinals; faced three Top 3 players during singles championship in No. 7 Dennis Nevolo (Illinois), 6-4, 6-3 and No. 2 Mitchell Frank (Virginia), 7-6(5), 6-1; lost to No. 3 Eric Quigley of Kentucky 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) ... garnered 6-3, 6-2 win vs. Georgia's and No. 8 Wil Spencer (March 21) and beat Michigan's and No. 8 Evan King in the ITA Midwest Regional Final (Oct. 17) ... Academic All-Big Ten honoree ... Ohio State Scholar-Athlete. 2010-11 (Freshman Season) - ITA All-American in singles; became only second Buckeye to earn ITA All-America honors as a freshman (Dino Marcan in 2010) ... 2011 NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 3 doubles ... ITA National Player to Watch ... First Team All-Big Ten honoree ... Big Ten Freshman of the Year ... Big Ten Player of the Week (March 22) ... competed in first-career national collegiate tournament at 2010 D'Novo All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. (Oct. 10) and recorded 4-1 mark in singles ... won singles championship at 2010 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championship in Notre Dame, Ind. (Oct. 25) ... defeated teammate Matt Allare to finish with perfect 6-0 record at tournament ... defeated No. 8 Eric Quigley of Kentucky 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 and No. 12 Austin Krajicek 6-4, 7-6 to advance to semifinals of 2010 National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y. (Nov. 7) ... earned team-high 41 wins, including a 25-4 mark in dual play ... competed mostly at No. 1 and No. 2 positions, going 10-3 at No. 1 and 15-1 at No. 2 ... ranked as high as No. 3 in ITA singles rankings ... earned first career dual singles win vs. Butler's Brandon Bayliss, 6-1, 6-3 (Jan. 26) ... won first nine matches in straight sets ... amassed 17-7 record against ranked competition ... defeated ITA Top 20 opponents No. 18 Gonzalo Escobar of Texas Tech 6-3, 6-3 (Feb. 18) and No. 17 Sebastian Fanselow of Pepperdine 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) (March 21) ... went 8-1 in Big Ten, winning last eight regular-season contests ... in doubles, teamed with Chase Buchanan and Balazs Novak for majority of season ... went 34-8 in doubles, including 27-5 during dual season ... perfect 10-0 in Big Ten play ... with Novak, went 17-1 at No. 3 position ... ranked as high as No. 6 in doubles with Buchanan ... defeated No. 14 Javier Garrapiz and Hernus Pieters of Georgia, 8-6 (Feb. 6) and No. 2 Ed Corrie and Jean Andersen of Texas, 8-5 (Feb. 19) to propel team to victory ... won final 14 matches with Novak as partner ... in NCAA tournament team action went 2-1 in singles and 5-0 in doubles to help Buckeyes to semifinal finish ... one of four Buckeyes to compete in NCAA singles championship ... downed No. 46 Ryan Thacher of Stanford 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, No. 43 Finn Tearney of Pepperdine 7-5, 6-2 and No. 21 Evan King 6-3, 6-0 to advance to semifinals before falling to top-seed Steve Johnson of USC 6-3, 6-3 ... advanced to Round of 16 in NCAA doubles championship with Buchanan ... ITA Scholar-Athlete ... Ohio State Scholar-Athlete. Prior to Ohio State - Captured two doubles titles and one singles title on professional circuit ... in 2010, won both singles and doubles titles at Futures event in home country of Slovenia ... had an impressive juniors career, qualifying for the boys' 18 bracket at the Australian and U.S. Opens in 2008 ... competed in the prestigious Dunlop Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship in Key Biscayne, Fla., where he advanced to Round of 16 ... in May of 2008, became La Vie Sport Junior Cup Villach Champion ... in 2010, compiled a 35-13 record in singles ... ranked as high as No. 388 in the world. Personal - Son of Majda and Marijan ... has one sister, Eva.
