MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2009
By: Senator(s) Michel, Yancey, Jackson To: Rules (11th), Chassaniol, Mettetal, Watson, Davis (1st), Clarke, Walls, Montgomery, Hopson, Burton, Stone, Powell
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 719
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND SALUTING UNIVERSITY 2 OF MISSISSIPPI FRESHMAN TENNIS STAR DEVIN BRITTON FROM BRANDON, 3 MISSISSIPPI, FOR WINNING THE 2009 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN 4 SINGLES, THE FIRST NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL TITLE IN THE HISTORY OF THE 5 OLE MISS TENNIS PROGRAM. 6 WHEREAS, University of Mississippi freshman tennis star Devin 7 Britton became the first player in the history of the Ole Miss 8 men's tennis program to win an NCAA National Championship in 9 singles, coming back to beat Ohio State senior Steven Moneke 3-6,
10 6-2, 6-3 in College Station, Texas, on May 25, 2009, at the George
11 P. Mitchell Tennis Center; and 12 WHEREAS, Britton, ranked No. 30 in the nation, becomes the 13 third Rebel to win an NCAA Individual Title, joining 11-time Grand 14 Slam Champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Ali Hamadeh, who took home the 15 doubles title in 1995; and 16 WHEREAS, a native of Brandon, Mississippi, the 18-year-old 17 Britton becomes the first American-born player to win the NCAA 18 Singles Title since Alex Kim of Stanford University in 2000. He
19 is also the first freshman since 19-year-old Cecil Mamiit of USC 20 (1996) to win the National Title and first non-seeded player since 21 Luke Smith of UNLV in 1997. He is the youngest of the three 22 all-time freshmen to win the Singles Title which includes 23 19-year-old John McEnroe of Stanford in 1978. Britton defeated 24 three seeded players en route to his national title run and ended 25 Moneke's 22-match winning streak. Both players respectively were 26 their program's first-ever NCAA Singles Championship Finalists;
27 and
S. C. R. No. 719 *SS01/R1701* N1/2 09/SS01/R1701 PAGE 1 28 WHEREAS, although Britton trained from age 14-17 at IMG 29 Academy in Florida under renowned Coach Nick Bollettieri, he cut 30 his tennis teeth at Colonial Country Club, Parham Bridges Tennis 31 Center and River Hills Club in Jackson; and 32 WHEREAS, for the second time in the individual tournament, 33 Britton had to come from behind to win, just as he did in the
34 quarterfinal round. Moneke, who is ranked No. 9 in the country 35 and a senior tri-captain for the NCAA runner-up Buckeyes, broke 36 Britton at 4-3 in the first set and then held for 6-3. The third 37 set was very similar to the second, in that Britton faced another 38 break point on his serve at 2-2. Just like the second set, he 39 held and then broke Moneke for a 4-2 lead. The two then traded 40 service games. At 5-3, 40-30, Britton missed his first serve, but 41 aced the second one to clinch the title; and
42 WHEREAS, "It is a pretty awesome feeling (to win the national 43 championship). It's great for Mississippi tennis. It was just an 44 unbelievable tournament. I couldn't be happier," Britton said; 45 and 46 WHEREAS, "He's gotten the entire tennis community excited, so 47 I think you are going to see a trickle-down effect in years to 48 come because of Devin's success," SEC Coach of the Year Billy 49 Chadwick said. "It's going to be a great thing for tennis in
50 Mississippi. We've built interest up over the years, but now with 51 a player from Mississippi on the team that can really play, you 52 need to watch"; and 53 WHEREAS, Devin Britton, who finished with a 29-9 overall 54 record, made plenty of history in his first season with the 55 Rebels. In addition to winning the first NCAA Singles Title for 56 the Rebels, he became the first freshman to earn All-America 57 honors. He earned All-SEC honors, made the SEC All-Freshman Team 58 and was named the 2009 Intercollegiate Tennis Association's
59 Southeast Region Rookie of the Year. The two-time SEC Player of 60 the Week helped lead Ole Miss to the NCAA Elite Eight, the SEC S. C. R. No. 719 *SS01/R1701* 09/SS01/R1701 PAGE 2 61 Championship, the SEC Tournament Championship and a final national 62 ranking of No. 4; and 63 WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we recognize this 64 phenomenal athlete who has scaled the peak of college tennis and 65 brought honor to his university, his community and to the State of 66 Mississippi:
67 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF 68 MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That 69 we do hereby recognize and salute University of Mississippi 70 freshman tennis star Devin Britton from Brandon, Mississippi, for 71 winning the 2009 NCAA National Championship in singles, which was 72 the first National Individual Title in the history of the Ole Miss 73 Tennis program, and we extend our best wishes to Devin and to the 74 university tennis coaches on this unique accomplishment.
75 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to 76 Devin Britton and his family, to Head Coach Billy Chadwick, to 77 Chancellor Robert Khayat and made available to the Board of 78 Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the Capitol 79 Press Corps.
S. C. R. No. 719 *SS01/R1701* 09/SS01/R1701 ST: Commend Ole Miss freshman tennis star Devin PAGE 3 Britton for winning 2009 NCAA National Individual Championship.