May 26, 2000
ATHENS, Georgia --- Stanford's K.J. Hippensteel (Roanoke, VA/International Academy) and Alex Kim (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill HS) will meet in the NCAA Singles Semifinals Championships on Saturday at the University of Georgia. Kim, the No. 5 seed, and Hippensteel, a No. 9-16 seed, both won twice on Friday to set up their first head-to-head meeting of the season.
Kim, who is ranked seventh in the country but has been as high as #2, posted two straight set wins on Friday and has not lost a set in the tournament. The Cardinal junior routed 68th-ranked Jeff Laski (Lisle, Illinois) of Illinois 6-0-, 6-2 in the third round and then shocked second-seeded and fourth-ranked Brian Vahaly (Atlanta, Georgia) of Virginia 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals. In the last five days alone, Kim has defeated three of the top four ranked players in the country (#1 Jeff Morrison, #2 Daniel Andersson, #4 Vahaly).
Hippensteel, who is ranked 11th in the country but was ranked #1 in the nation in January before missing nearly three months with mononucleosis, won two more three-set marathons on Friday. Carrill upset eighth-ranked and seventh-seeded Esteban Carrill (Gijon, Spain) 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the third round and unseeded and 35th-ranked Steven Huss (Melbourne, Australia) of Auburn 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Hippensteel is looking to win his second NCAA title in as many years after winning the NCAA Doubles Title as a freshman with Ryan Wolters.
In the doubles competition, Stanford's top-ranked and second-seeded duo of Geoff Abrams (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS) and Alex Kim became the seventh of the eight seeds to be eliminated when they fell to 22nd-ranked Erik Dmytruk (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and Scott Kintz (San Diego, California) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. Abrams and Kim, who have been ranked No. 1 in the country since December, finished the season 37-7.
Singles (Seeds in parenthesis)
Third Round
(1) Jeff Morrison (Florida) d. Robert Kendrick (Pepperdine), 7-6 (5), 6-2
Tripp Phillips (North Carolina) d. Johann Jooste (Baylor), 7-6, 6-2
(3) Shuon Madden (Texas A&M) d. Jong-Min Lee (UCLA), 6-7, 7-5, 6-3
Carlos Drada (Kentucky) d. Andres Pedroso (Duke), 6-2, 6-3
(9-16) K.J. Hippensteel (Stanford) d. (7) Esteban Carrill (TCU), 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
Stephen Huss (Auburn) d. (9-16) Justin O'Neal (Florida), 7-5, 6-4
(5) Alex Kim (Stanford) d. Jeff Laski (Illinois), 6-0, 6-2
(2) Brian Vahaly (Virginia) d. Guillermo Carter (Oregon), 6-2, 6-1
Quarterfinals
(1) Jeff Morrison (Florida) d. Tripp Phillips (North Carolina), 6-3, 6-4
Carlos Drada (Kentucky) d. (3) Shuon Madden (Texas A&M), 6-2, 6-4
(9-16) K.J. Hippensteel (Stanford) d. Stephen Huss (Auburn), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
(5) Alex Kim (Stanford) d. (2) Brian Vahaly (Virginia), 6-3, 7-5
Doubles (Seeds in parenthesis)
First Round
Doug Root/Ramsey Smith (Duke) d. Matt Amgwerd/Nic Dubey (New Mexico), 6-4, 6-7, 6-1
Second Round
Doug Root/Ramsey Smith (Duke) d. Rob Cheyne/Andy Scorteanu (Fresno State), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Marco Baron/Charles Sevigny (Mississippi State) d. (5-8) Michal Chmela/Dan Kiernan (LSU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
Leif Meineke/Wesley Moodie (Boise State) d. (3) Dumitru Caradima/Shuon Madden (Texas A&M), default
Ryan Moore/Nick Rainey (USC) d. (5-8) Toby Hansson/Jon Wallmark (SMU), 6-3, 7-5 (5-8)
Sebastian Graeff/Anthony Ross (Pepperdine) d. Maxim Belski/Francisco Rodriguez (Alabama), 6-3, 6-3
Cary Franklin/Graydon Oliver (Illinois) d. (4) Michael Blue/Nick Crowell (Texas), 6-3, 6-4
Vikrant Chadha/James Shortall (Mississippi) d. (5-8) David Hodge/Mark Williams (Baylor), 6-3, 6-4
Erik Dmytruk/Scott Kintz (California) d. (2) Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim (Stanford), 3-6, 6-1, 6-1