"He was definitely tired in the third set," said Huey, who played No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles for U.Va.'s top-ranked team this spring.

"But he's such a good player, that he was trying to move as little as possible and go for more on his shots. At the end, I knew he was just going for winners. If it went in, he won the point. If it didn't, I won the point.

"I give him all the credit for it being as close as it was in the third set. He hit so many winners, it was incredible."

Not only was McNamara getting tired, but he was suffering from the injury, which has bothered him throughout the tournament. It got so bad that he called for a trainer midway through the final set.

But there wasn't anything that could be done, other than retiring at that point, so McNamara hung in there as long as he could.

"I definitely thought about retiring," said McNamara, the men's coach at Middle Tennessee State. "I felt nauseated. Dizzy, light-headed. It's hard playing a guy when you think he's going to quit. It had to be frustrating for him. I probably thought about [retiring] a 100 times. But I couldn't do it. For the tournament and all these people out here watching, I had to guts it out."

McNamara, 32, failed to capitalize on three set points in the opening set at 5-4 on Huey's serve before pulling out the tiebreaker when Huey sent a backhand wide.

Huey, 22, who will get his degree in foreign affairs in two weeks before hitting the pro tour full-time with teammates Somdev Devvarman and Ted Angelinos, won the first three games of the second set, but McNamara leveled it at 3-all and forced another extra session.

This one went to Huey, who finished it off with an ace, one of nine he delivered (compared with 10 double faults).

"The only way I was going to win was to stay out there and grind," said McNamara, a native of Australia who received a check for $1,500. "I was fortunate to hit some winners at times. I gave myself a couple of opportunities, but he's in better shape than I am. He's 10 years younger and he's coming off a great season at U.Va."

Huey broke McNamara for a 3-2 lead in the third set but gave it back in the eighth game to make it 4-all. Both players held serve on their next deliveries, then Huey broke McNamara again in the 11th game, when McNamara committed his 10th double fault and sent a backhand long.

After falling behind 15-30 in the next game, Huey claimed three straight points to finally wrap it up and allow McNamara to leave the court for good.

"It was definitely tough. especially mentally," said Huey, about knowing McNamara's predicament. "I know I've got to move the ball around, then he hits a few winners, and I'm thinking, 'What am I doing? I need to play my [baseline] game. Just play how I usually play.' Toward the end, I kept it deep and ran a lot of balls down. I think my fitness allowed me to run all day out here."