USD’s Noriega Falls in National Clay Court Final

Instead of recording another feat on clay, Jose Luis Noriega came up with feet of clay Sunday.

The University of San Diego senior was a 6-4, 6-4 loser to Mohamed Ridaoui of Mississippi in the finals of the National Intercollegiate Clay Court Tennis Championships in Wilmington, N.C.

Third-seeded Noriega had won the title in 1989 and is ranked fourth on the Volvo Tennis/Collegiate Rankings. Ridaoui is not among the 60 players on the rankings and had to win three qualifying matches just to get into the tournament, one of four comprising the collegiate grand slam.

But Ridaoui, a senior who has also played on Morocco’s Davis Cup team the past four years, took control early, breaking Noriega’s serve in the first game. It was the only service break of the first set.

Ridaoui also had a break in the third game of the second set. Noriega tied the set with a break in the sixth game and took a 4-3 lead by holding his serve in seventh. Ridaoui, who did not lose a set in the tournament, responded with a break in the ninth game and closed out the match by holding serve in the tenth.

“He looked like he had a lot of confidence,” Noriega said. “I needed a little more confidence.”

But confidence wasn’t the only thing lacking in Noriega’s game.

“I didn’t play great tennis,” Noriega said. “I didn’t serve as well as I did compared to (Saturday). Every ball he was hitting was going in. I was on the defensive and that’s not my game.”

While Noriega was struggling, Ridaoui was excelling.

“I think I played the best tennis I have played in my life,” said Ridaoui, adding that his previous best match was Saturday’s semifinal win over Patricio Arnold of South Florida, the tournament’s top seed and defending champion. “Noriega was playing good at the baseline and that didn’t hurt me that much because I love baseline players and I made him work hard to win the points.”