April 18, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. - The top-ranked Stanford men's tennis team (21-0) took a big step toward earning the top seed in the NCAA Tournament with a 7-0 win over fourth-ranked Pepperdine (22-2) on Tuesday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Waves, who own wins over No. 2 UCLA and No. 5 Duke, had only lost to No. 9 Texas A&M (4-3) prior to Tuesday.
"It was two great teams out there, and the score was deceiving," Stanford head coach Dick Gould said. "The match could have just as easily gone the other way. We got off to a great start in singles, but showing the great team they are, Pepperdine really fought back. Pepperdine tried to turn it around, but to a man, our guys really stepped it up."
The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced on May 4, and Stanford is expected to be named as a host site for the first and second rounds on May 13-14. The final four rounds of the NCAA Championships will be held in Athens, Georgia on May 20-23. The win gives Stanford a 4-0 record against top 10 opponents, and 11-0 mark against top 40 opposition.
Stanford took the doubles point by winning two of the three matches, marking just the second time in 23 duals this season that Pepperdine has not won the doubles competition. Stanford's No. 1 duo of Geoff Abrams (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS) and Alex Kim (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill HS), who have been ranked No. 1 in the nation for over five months, improved to 8-0 against top 10 opponents with an 8-4 victory over third-ranked Sebastien Graeff (Monaco City, Monaco/Palmer Academy) and Anthony Ross (Brisbane, Qld., Australia/St. Joseph's College). Stanford then clinched the doubles point when 21st-ranked K.J. Hippensteel (Roanoke, VA/International Academy) and freshman David Martin (Key Biscayne, FL/Boca Raton Prep) won six of the final eight games to defeat John Hui (Hong Kong, Hong Kong/Foothill CC) and Robert Kendrick (Fresno, CA/University of Washington) 8-4.
The Cardinal then won all six singles matches, including five three-set marathons. In the only straight set victory, 12th-ranked Abrams improved to 35-6 and won his 15th in a row with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over 60th-ranked Alastair Garland (Overjise, Belgium/British School of Brussels). In other matches involving ranked players, No. 3 Kim defeated No. 28 Kendrick 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 at No. 1 and No. 13 Hippensteel beat No. 70 Graeff 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3.
Stanford, who is shooting for its third undefeated regular season in the last six years, concludes the campaign with a pair of non-conference matches this weekend in Southern California. The Pac-10 Champion Cardinal visits No. 18 USC (15-7) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and No. 2 UCLA (19-3) on Saturday at noon.
#1 Stanford 7, #4 Pepperdine 0
Singles
No. 1 - #3 Alex Kim (S) d. #28 Robert Kendrick, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 2 - #12 Geoff Abrams (S) d. #60 Alastair Garland, 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 - #13 K.J. Hippensteel (S) d. #70 Sebastien Graeff, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 - David Martin (S) d. Stefan Suter, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
No. 5 - Scotty Scott (S) d. Chase Exon, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2
No. 6 - Ali Ansari (S) d. Anthony Ross, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 - #1 Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim (S) d. #3 Sebastien Graeff/Anthony Ross, 8-4
No. 2 - #21 K.J. Hippensteel/David Martin (S) d. John Hui/Robert Kendrick, 8-4
No. 3 - Chase Exon/Alastair Garland (P) d. Ali Ansari/Scotty Scott, 8-3
(Stanford wins doubles point)
Records - #4 Pepperdine 22-2, #1 Stanford 21-0.