25th Anniversary Profile: Martin Sayer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As part of the Big South Conference’s 25th Anniversary celebration in 2008-09, which is presented by Royal Purple, the Conference is profiling each week the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. This week’s feature is Radford men’s tennis stalwart Martin Sayer – the lone individual on the “Best of the Best” list still competing in the Big South Conference.
A video vignette of Sayers’ impressive career, featuring retrospectives by Sayer and head coach Mike Anderson, can be viewed on the Big South’s website, www.BigSouthSports.com, under the 25th Anniversary Media Center banner. In addition, video vignettes around all the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments are available for viewing online.
Over the past three years, Martin Sayer has become one of Radford’s and the Big South Conference’s most prominent tennis players and individual athletes in school and Conference history. In just a short time as a Highlander, Sayer has achieved several accolades never accomplished before by any tennis player at RU. A three-time Big South Player of the Year and Mideast Region Rookie of the Year, Sayer compiled a 94-23 overall record in his first three seasons at the No. 1 singles position – including 55-9 in the spring season. He owns an 18-1 record in Big South matches, and has won his last 13 consecutive contests against League foes. Twice he has fallen one NCAA Championship match victory shy of earning All-America honors.
Nationally ranked since he arrived at Radford in 2005 -- a first for any RU tennis player, Sayer burst onto the tennis scene as a freshman. In the fall of 2005, he was the co-champion of the ITA Mideast Regional and reached the second round of the ITA National Indoor Championships. During his historic run through the Regional, he defeated four nationally-ranked players, ranging from No. 2 to No. 82. On day three, Sayer, the co-17th seed, started off the day by downing sixth-seeded and 33rd-ranked Todd Paul of Wake Forest, 7-6, 6-0 in the round of 16. Sayer then pulled off the biggest upset in RU tennis history, defeating No. 1 seed and second-ranked Ludovic Walter of Duke in three sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, earning a trip to the semifinals. Sayer went on to defeat fourth-seeded and 16th-ranked Rylan Rizza of Virginia in the semifinals, helping him claim the co-championship.
Sayer’s fall success propelled him to a No. 17 ranking to start the 2006 spring season, the highest ranking of his collegiate career. That spring he also became the first tennis player to reach the NCAA Championships and won his first round match against No. 113 Marcus Echtler of Stetson. Sayer would fall in the second round to the eventual NCAA runner-up Somdev Devvarman of Virginia.
Sayer finished his freshman season ranked No. 31 in the country and eighth in the Mideast Region. He posted an 8-5 record against nationally-ranked players en route to his first Big South Player of the Year honor and First-Team All-Conference honors in singles and doubles. Sayer went 37-9 overall his first year, including 23-4 in spring competition and 5-1 in Big South play. He also helped Radford reach its first Big South Championship match.
As a sophomore, Sayer continued his ascension in collegiate tennis. He was the only Big South player to be ranked nationally (No. 48) and was ranked sixth in the Mideast Region. He compiled a 32-10 overall record, including 20-2 in the spring and 7-0 in Big South action. Sayer led the Conference in victories and was one of two undefeated players in League matches. He won 19 of his 20 spring victories in straight sets, went 3-2 against nationally-ranked opponents in the spring, and dropped just five sets in the spring season. He claimed his second Big South Player of the Year award, and during the season, he reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Mideast Regional and the Baylor HEB Intercollegiate, as well as the finals of the Virginia Fall Invitational. Sayer also led the Highlanders to their first Big South Conference championship and team berth in the NCAA Championship. For the second-straight year, Sayer was an at-large selection to the NCAA Singles Championship and for the second consecutive year reached the round of 32.
Sayer’s junior season in 2007-08 was much of the same. He collected his third Big South Player of the Year honor as well as First-Team All-Conference accolades in singles and doubles. He was nationally-ranked all season, reaching as high as No. 26, and finished the season with a 25-4 overall record and 14-1 record in spring matches, including 6-0 in Big South competition. He won the top flight at the UNC Fall Invitational, reached the final of the Virginia Fall Invitational and the semifinals of the ITA Mideast Regional. He again led the Highlanders to the Big South Conference championship and NCAA Tournament, and later participated in the NCAA Singles Championship as an at-large competitor for the third year in a row.
In the 2008 NCAA Singles Championship, Sayer battled Stanford’s Alex Clayton for three sets, but came up short, falling to the eight-seeded player, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. All three sets were decided by one service break. Sayer earned the first break over No. 7 Clayton to take the first set. In the second set, Clayton broke Sayer in game three and used that to send the match into a third set. In the deciding set, Sayer had three break chances to go up 4-2, but Clayton fought them off to win the game and then proceeded to break Sayer’s next service and hold on for the match-clinching 6-4 victory. It was Sayer’s first loss of the spring season.
Sayer was a key contributor to Radford finishing with a national ranking of 69 and reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Highlanders entered the rankings for the first time in school history on March 4, 2008 at No. 59 and stayed ranked throughout the 2008 campaign. They peaked at No. 55 on April 1. Over the past three seasons, RU has compiled a 53-12 overall and 18-1 Big South record, notching undefeated Big South regular seasons in 2006 and 2008. The Highlanders are also riding one of the longest current NCAA Division I home winning streaks, which currently stands at 27 matches. The streak dates back to the 2004 season.
This past summer, Sayer added another victory to his already impressive resume, winning the singles title of the ITA Summer Circuit Tournament at the University of North Carolina’s Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. In the championship match, he defeated North Carolina State’s Chris Welte, 6-4, 6-4. Sayer won seven matches without dropping a set over the course of four days. Along with Welte, he defeated Kenyon’s Charlie Brody, Virginia Tech’s Preston Lemon, Eric Shulman of Glen Allen, Va., Ball State’s Shaun Bussert, and the Clemson duo of Kevin Galloway and Kevin Fleck.
A native of Hong Kong, Sayer is a member of Hong Kong’s Davis Cup team and was recognized by the Hong Kong Tennis Association this past August for his outstanding accomplishments.
With his final spring season as a collegiate player underway, Sayer won his first match of the season and is approaching 100 career singles victories, as he stands at 95-23.
Martin Sayer is one of the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. The Conference is conducting an online fan poll to help determine the Top Moment in the first 25 years of the Big South Conference. Voting is open on www.BigSouthSports.com and continues through March 25. Fan voting will be combined with the 25th Anniversary Committee’s votes to come up with the official rank order of the “Best of the Best” moments. The countdown will be unveiled at the concluding 25th Anniversary banquet in May.
(Portions of this profile provided by Radford’s Athletic Communications Office).