STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga.- SMU senior Genius Chidzikwe beat Duke's Marko Cerenko 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the singles final Sunday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Men's All-American Championships, the second leg of the ITA Grand Slam, at the Lincoln Tennis Center.

The 43rd ranked Chidzikwe, who is from Mutare, Zimbabwe, is the second SMU player to win an ITA Grand Slam title and first since Richey Reneberg won the ITA All-American in 1986. Duke's 63rd-ranked Cerenko, a senior from Atlanta, is the first Blue Devil to ever reach a national singles final.

After a slow start, Chidzikwe rebounded to take the second two sets. Key points in the match were when he broke Cerenko's serve in the eighth game of the second set to go up 5-3, and when he converted on two of three break opportunities in the third -- breaking in the fifth game to go up 3-2 and the ninth and final game. Today's one hour, 50 minute final was the first ITA All-American singles final to be extended to three sets since '87.

"After the first set my body was warm and I was ready to run," said Chidzikwe, who improves to 8-1 this season. "I just thought that if I could win the second set and turn it into a dogfight I'd have a good chance to win."

Chidzikwe, who is a member of the Zimbabwe Davis Cup squad (with former Southern California All-Americans Byron and Wayne Black) and has seven Top 100 wins this season, earns an automatic spot in the third leg of the ITA Grand Slam - the 2001 Rolex National Indoor Championships - which is hosted by SMU in Dallas.

This was the first time since '95 that two unseeded players reached the ITA All-American singles final.

Singles Results

First Round, Oct. 12
Genius Chidzikwe, SMU def. (9) Mark Parsons, Tennessee, 6-1, 6-1
Chad Carlson, Georgia def. Jon Wallmark, SMU, 6-4, 6-4

Second Round, Oct. 12
Genius Chidzikwe, SMU def. Jerome LeBelicard, Mississippi State, 6-2, 6-0

Third Round, Oct. 13
Genius Chidzikwe, SMU def. Jean-Julien Rojer, UCLA, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

Quarterfinals, Oct. 14
Genius Chidzikwe, SMU def. Bo Hodge, Ga., 6-3, 6-2

Semifinals, Oct. 14
Genius Chidzikwe, SMU def. John Paul Futtero, Cal, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Final, Oct. 15
Genius Chidzikwe, SMU def. Marko Cerenko, Duke, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

First Round Consolation, Oct. 12
Jon Wallmark, SMU, BYE (Marco Baron, Mississippi State)

Second Round Consolation, Oct. 13
Mark Williams, Baylor def. Jon Wallmark, 6-1, 6-1

Doubles Results

First Round, Oct. 12
Marco Baron and Charles Sevigny, Mississippi State def. Genius Chidzikwe and Jon Wallmark, SMU, 6-3, 6-3

Consolation Draw, Oct. 13
Genius Chidzikwe and Jon Wallmark, SMU def. Florian Marquardt and Frank Moser, Virginia Commonwealth, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Consolation Draw Second Round, Oct. 14
Ronald Kloppert and Jean Simon, Texas def. Genius Chidzikwe and Jon Wallmark, SMU, walkover