Hugo Car wins national title at No. 1 singles

Eastern Florida State College men's tennis player Hugo Car finished off an incredible sophomore season with a national championship at No. 1 singles.

The France native defeated Tyler Junior College's Juan Carlos Garcia in the final to claim the title. The singles championship is the first in program history.

Car jumped out to a commanding 5-2 start in the first set, but Garcia battled back to cut the lead to 5-4. Car would force deuce and on the third deuce, he was able to get the win, 6-4.

The second set was a highly-contested set with strong shots and long rallies. Six of the points went to a deuce and down 4-5, Car was able to tie it up 5-5, then hold serve to take the 6-5 lead. He continued to play well, getting the break and the victory.

"It was a tough match, I played him in March and won easily but this was different conditions and different courts, so it was not a good thing for me. He played well," Car said. "I am really happy with my match. I am really proud of myself. I did better than last year and I achieved something really big for me."

Eastern Florida State College finished the tournament in third place for the second straight season as Car won the national title while teammates Nick DeVivo and Tomas Quesada Perez both made it to the final. Perez and Colin Tavares also went to the championship match at No. 3 doubles.

"I could not be more excited about the way Hugo played during his entire season culminating with him winning it all and being crowned National Champion," Eastern Florida State College President James H. Richey said. "He represented Eastern Florida State College with excellence as did all of our players. I could not be more proud of Coach (Bobby) Cashman and our entire team for finishing in the top three in the nation."

Car came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and has been the No. 1 player in the ITA JUCO rankings all season long. In Texas, Car won all three of his matches in straight sets and the 6-4 win in the final was the closest set of the tournament. Car has committed to attend and play at the University of South Florida next year.