Washington men's tennis player Alex Slovic proved the NCAA selection committee wrong with his victory today in the first round of the NCAA championship. Slovic, who gained entry into the tournament as an alternate only after other players dropped out of the main draw, defeated No. 22 Ryan Rowe of Illinois, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, to earn his way to the round of 32 in the singles tournament.

Slovic's regular season play was hampered by a knee injury, but as the season progressed, he began to return to full strength and racked up several victories for the team. With wins over players such as No. 27 Pierre Mouillon of California and eventual Pac-10 singles champion Matt Bruch of Stanford, Slovic was well on his way to establishing himself as a powerhouse in the ranks of men's tennis players.

A second-place finish in the Pac-10 conference championships and a 21-11 singles record gave Slovic plenty of momentum going into the postseason. When the announcement of the NCAA singles draw was made, however, Slovic did not make the cut, although he was named the sixth alternate. According to the complicated points system used to assess national rankings for men's tennis, Slovic's victories were not enough to boost his ranking higher than No. 64 in the nation, as his opponents were not highly ranked themselves.

Today's victory over Rowe was evidence that Slovic is easily one of the top players in the country, despite what his ranking may show. In his second-round match, to be played today, Slovic will have a chance to avenge a regular-season loss to Notre Dame's Stephen Bass, who made it to second round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over USC's Kaes Van't Hof. In their previous meeting, Bass, the tournament's No. 7 seed, emerged with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.

But no matter the outcome of today's match, Slovic has already made it farther into the tournament than he did last year, when he was upset in the first round by Florida's Greg Ouellette. A victory today would put him in the round of 16 in the tournament, making him just the seventh men's tennis player from Washington to achieve All-American status. The title of All-American is conferred on players based on various criteria, among which is reaching the round of 16 in the NCAA singles championships. Previous Husky All-Americans include Slovic's fellow countryman and former doubles partner Alex Vlaski.

Reach reporter Risa Pavia at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.