Feb. 27, 2000
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - The second-ranked Stanford University men's tennis team (8-0) defeated No. 7 UCLA (11-2) 4-3 in the finals of the USTA/ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships on Sunday afternoon at the Louisville Tennis Center.
The Cardinal men's victory on Sunday gives the Stanford tennis programs a clean sweep of the 2000 USTA/ITA Team Indoor events. The top-ranked Cardinal women defeated archrival California last Sunday to win the first half of the title. The Stanford men have now five of the last nine team indoor titles, and a record 11 overall. In fact, Stanford or UCLA has won the men's team indoor title since 1990, and a California school has won the event each of the last 17 years.
The third-seeded Cardinal wrapped up the win over the top-seeded Bruins at No. 1 singles. Stanford junior Alex Kim - the second-ranked singles player in the country by the ITA - defeated 94th-ranked Jong-Min Lee 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4) to break a 3-3 tie and clinch the tournament title.
"UCLA has a great team and I'm sure they'll get back at us this year," Stanford head coach Dick Gould said. Stanford hosts UCLA on Apr 7 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, and travels to Westwood on Apr. 22. "We play them another two times and might even be meeting in the big one (NCAA final) down the road. So you can't get too excited about it. But I'm very happy with the way we competed, the way we came back and the way we kept fighting. Especially when things weren't going our way."
Stanford won four of the six singles matches on Sunday, including three in the third set tiebreaker, to make up for dropping the doubles point for the first time in the tournament. The team indoors used an experimental format where a match-tiebreaker (first to 10, win by two) was played instead of a third set.
At No. 2 singles, Stanford's Geoff Abrams - ranked No. 6 by the ITA - outlasted No. 47 Brandon Kramer 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8). The Cardinal's Scotty Scott also went three sets in the No. 3 position to upset 79th-ranked Julien Rojer 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3). Stanford's fourth singles victory was another upset - a 7-5, 6-4 win by Ali Ansari over 79th-ranked Chris Sands at No. 6 singles.
Stanford returns to action on Wednesday when it meets archrival and 35th-ranked California at 1:30 p.m.
#2 Stanford 4, #7 UCLA 3
Singles
No. 1 - #2 Alex Kim (STAN) d. #94 (tie) Jong-Min Lee, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4)
No. 2 - #6 Geoff Abrams (STAN) d. #47 Brandon Kramer, 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 3 - Scotty Scott (STAN) d. #79 (tie) Julien Rojer, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
No. 4 - Lassi Ketola (UCLA) d. #87 (tie) David Martin, 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 - Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) d. Scott Lipsky, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)
No. 6 - Ali Ansari (STAN) d. #79 (tie) Chris Sands, 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 - #1 Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim (STAN) d. #39 Brandon Kramer/Jong-Min Lee, 8-5
No. 2 - Jean Noel Grinda/Julien Rojer (UCLA) d. Scott Lipsky/David Martin, 8-6
No. 3 - Lassi Ketola/Travis Rettenmaier (UCLA) d. Ali Ansari/Scotty Scott, 9-8 (6)
Records - #7 UCLA 11-2, #2 Stanford 8-0.
* - A match tiebreaker (first to 10, win by two) was played instead of a third set.