ORLANDO, Fla. – Hamilton College's Connor Griff '25 had his memorable 2022-23 season come to an end in the first round of the singles draw in the 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships at the U.S. Tennis Association National Campus on Thursday morning, May 18.
 
Griff fell by scores of 6-3, 6-4 to seventh-seeded Michael Melnikov of Swarthmore College in the Round of 32. Griff is the first Hamilton men's tennis player in the national championships in at least 20 years.

"Connor's match against the seventh seed was very exciting," Head Coach Peter Arsenault said. "Outside of Connor's serve, which was not at it's usual elite standards, I felt like Connor was the better player during much of the match. Given how impressive Melnikov's season has been, I could not have been more proud to watch him fight through that match."   
 
Griff finished with a record of 19-8 in singles play this season. He's ranked sixth in Region 1 by the NCAA and is 14th in the Northeast Region in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings.
 
Melnikov improved his singles record to 23-1. The first-year from Germany is ranked first in Region 3 by the NCAA and is first in the Atlantic South Region ITA rankings.

Inside the Match

Set 1
1-0: Connor came out serving really well as he held serve pretty easily
1-4: Connor had trouble getting into a rhythm off the ground strokes as Melnikov was serving very well and points were very short. He also lost a couple of critical deuce points that would have helped keep him closer in the first set.
3-4: This was a turning point in the match where Connor really started to build a nice rhythm off his ground stokes and won both of these games
3-5: Melnikov was able to neutralize the momentum Connor had by serving really well this game. While Connor was dominating during the longer points, Melnikov's serve really helped keep Connor from getting the opportunities to break for a second straight time.
3-6: One of the main patterns of this match was that Melnikov was able to up his game in the critical moments of the match. On Connor's serve, Melnikov hit some nice returns and put a lot of pressure on Connor. This game once again went to a critical deuce point, and ended with Melnikov going 3-for-3 on deuce points in the first set. 

Set 2
0-2: The second set followed a similar pattern as the first as Connor dropped into an early hole with Melnikov serving very well, and with Connor's serve not as strong as usual.  
2-2: Connor quickly recovered with two outstanding games where he controlled most of the points with his outstanding ground strokes.
4-5: The middle of the second set went back-and-forth with each holding their service games, and neither really getting opportunities to break serve. Melnikov continued to serve well. Connor continued to struggle with his serve, but was able to make up for it by controlling the longer points.   
4-6: Similar to the first set, the second set (and match) ended with Connor losing a critical deuce point (making him 0-for-4 on deuce points). Melnikov stepped up his game once again in a critical moment, closing out the match by making a lot of good returns and putting a lot of pressure on Connor to play his best as the match tightened.

Coach's Perspective
Going into the year one of Connor's goals was to make the Division III Individual Championships. For him to achieve this, a feat never accomplished before in program history, was truly a legendary accomplishment. What I admire most about his epic season was the number of times he put his teammates first by choosing to play through injuries, even if doing so could have cost him an opportunity to qualify for nationals. Even though he had nothing left to prove by the time he reached nationals, to see him perform at an elite level against one of the top players in the country speaks volumes about the type of competitor he is. It is an honor having the opportunity to coach Connor. I could not be more excited to see what is next for him during his junior and senior seasons.