State's Ambert Earns Arthur Ashe Award For ITA Southeast Region
The award, named for the late men's tennis great, honors Ashe and goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements during his career.
Ambert, a junior, is an all-American and three-time, first-team, all-Southeastern Conference selection. He holds career records of 78-29 in singles and 53-35 in doubles. He is a very impressive 31-10 during his time at State at the No. 1 singles position in the lineup.
"As good as Romain has been on the court in terms of results, this award is probably the most important one he has earned," MSU head coach Sylvain Guichard said. "Winning an award named for Arthur Ashe and everything he stood for is extremely prestigious and we are very proud of him for it."
The Ashe award is not Ambert's first career recognition by the ITA. He earned the organization's Regional Player to Watch Award in both 2001 and 2002, and was the national winner of that award last season. As a regional winner of the Ashe Award, he will automatically become a candidate for the national version of the award, which will be released at the NCAA Championships next week in Athens, Ga.
Ambert is the third Bulldog to earn the Ashe Award on the regional level. Three-time all-Americans Daniel Courcol and Marco Baron were recipients in 1993 and 2001, respectively. Baron won the national award as well in '01.
A native of Toulouse, France, Ambert begins competition in the 2003 NCAA Singles Championship next Wednesday, May 21, in Athens. He is making his third straight appearance in the field, only the second Bulldog ever to earn a bid to the draw in each of his first three seasons at MSU.