Alex Slovic's career as a Husky was finally brought to an end this past weekend when he lost in the semifinals of the NCAA singles championship to the No. 1 player in the nation, Georgia's John Isner. After making it into the tournament as the last alternate, Slovic's run to the semis was an incredible accomplishment, and is the culmination of his hard work this season and in all four years of his career at the UW.

"I competed well the whole tournament, and it was a great experience for me," Slovic said.

After failing to make the main draw of the event, Slovic traveled to Georgia as the last alternate, prepared to play in the event that enough players dropped out of the main draw for Slovic to make it in. When Mississippi State's Ivan Bjelica dropped out Monday, Slovic learned that he would be playing in the first round of competition the next day.

"I told Alex we'd already lost by not making it in, so once he made it in, all he had to do was try to grab everything he could," UW coach Matt Anger said. "There was no pressure."

After avenging an earlier loss to Notre Dame's Stephen Bass — the tournament's No. 7 seed — Slovic defeated Mississippi's Robbye Poole in the third round for his 100th career singles win, the fourth-highest in UW history.

His quarterfinal opponent would prove even tougher. Jesse Levine, a freshman from Florida, was 24-0 in his first season of college play, with wins over several prominent players, including Isner. But Slovic was not intimidated, handing Levine the first loss of his college career with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory.

"The guy was really good," Slovic sajd of Levine. "I didn't know he was a freshman; I thought he was a senior, because he was playing at such a high level."

Slovic's win made him only the third Husky to earn a spot in the semifinals of the NCAA championship, and also made him the only unseeded player to advance that far in the tournament, as the top three seeds filled the other three semifinal spots.

His match against Isner was quite the battle. Isner — a 6-foot-9-inch serve-and-volleyer — proved too much to handle in the end, beating Slovic 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.

"He was serving big — I thought I would get more chances on returns, but his first serve was huge, and his second serve was like his first," Slovic said. "We didn't play many points from the baseline on his serve — it was either an ace or a winner."

Slovic's accomplishments in the tournament are bittersweet for both him and the team, as they bring an end to the career of one the most successful players in Husky tennis history.

"[His success] proves that Alex is capable of playing at this level if he's healthy for a long time," Anger said. "Believe me, it has not yet sunk in how awful it's going to be to fill out a lineup card next season without Alex's name on it."

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