May 20, 2000
ATHENS, Georgia - The top-ranked Stanford men's tennis team traveled to Athens, Georgia continuing postseason play with a 4-0 win over #18 Minnesota (24-7) in the Round of 16 of the 2000 NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championships on Saturday morning.
Saturday's victory gives Stanford (25-1) a Quarterfinal match-up against ninth-seeded Texas Christian (22-4) on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST. The Horned Frogs advanced to the Round of Eight with a 4-1 upset victory eighth-seeded Baylor on Saturday morning. The TCU/Stanford winner advances to the Semifinals of the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament and will face Florida, Duke, Southern California or SMU. The semifinals are slated for Monday, May 22 at 4 p.m. EST. The tournament concludes with the championship match on May 23.
Stanford opened the day by winning two of the three doubles matches to capture the first point of the dual. The Cardinal received an 8-5 win from juniors Ali Ansari (Houston, TX/Second Baptist HS) and Scotty Scott (Belvedere, CA/Pinewood HS) at No. 3. The nation's top-ranked duo of Geoff Abrams (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS) and Alex Kim (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill HS) defeated the #27-ranked doubles team Thomas Haug and Martin Michaelowski 8-4.
With the doubles point secure, the Cardinal then proceeded to dominate in the singles matches. #5 Geoff Abrams finished his match first with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2. Freshman David Martin (Key Biscayne, FL/Boca Raton Prep) then defeated his opponent decisively, with a 6-3, 6-3 win. The clinching point was provided by Ali Ansari when he knocked off Eric Robertson 6-2, 6-4.
The Gophers suffered their first shutout of the season in their loss to the Cardinal. This marks the second occasion in three years that Stanford has knocked off the Gophers in the Round of 16. In 1998, the Cardinal defeated Minnesota 4-0, en route to winning the national title. The Cardinal has now won 25 of its last 26 NCAA Tournament matches, including 21 of 22 at the Championships site.
#1 Stanford 4, #18 Minnesota 0
Singles No. 1 - #7 Alex Kim (S) v. #90 Harsh Mankad, suspended (6-7, 2-3 Stanford) No. 2 - #5 Geoff Abrams (S) d. Thomas Haug, 6-1, 6-2 No. 3 - #11 K.J. Hippensteel (S) v. Jorge Duenas, suspended (1-6, 6-1, 4-3 Stanford) No. 4 - David Martin (S) d. Martin Michaelowski, 6-3, 6-3 No. 5 - Scotty Scott (S) v. Tyson Perry, suspended (6-4, 2-1 Stanford) No. 6 - Ali Ansari (S) d. Eric Robertson, 6-2, 6-4 * (deciding match) Doubles (Stanford wins doubles point) No. 1 - #1 Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim (S) d. #27 Thomas Huang, 8-4 No. 2 - #34 K.J. Hippensteel/David Martin (S) v. Jorge Duenas/Harsh Mankad, suspended (4-6 Stanford) No. 3 - Ali Ansari/Scotty Scott (S) d. Eric Robertson/Tyson Parry, 8-5 Records - Minnesota 24-7, #1 Stanford 25-1