April 19, 2002
STANFORD, Calif. - Second-ranked UCLA (19-3 overall, 6-0 Pac-10) clinched at least a share of the Pacific-10 Conference Championship with a 4-3 road victory over fourth-ranked Stanford University (19-4, 5-1) on Friday afternoon at the Taube Tennis Center.
The Cardinal will conclude the 2001-02 regular season by hosting 13th-ranked USC (18-4, 4-1) on Saturday at noon at the Taube Tennis Center as Cashin Company Realtors Presents "The Stanford Challenge". The Bruins will attempt to clinch the Pac-10 title outright at No. 17 California (16-6, 3-2) on Saturday at noon at the Hellman Tennis Center.The Cardinal , which was playing without three-time All-American K.J. Hippensteel (Roanoke, VA), and Bruins added another chapter to their storied rivalry on Friday with yet another dual that came down to the final match.
With the score tied at 3-3, UCLA's Jean-Julien Rojer (Curacao, Netherlands-Antilles) outlasted the Cardinal's Scott Lipsky (Merrick, NY) 7-5, 6-4 to help the Bruins earn a split in the 2001-02 series between the teams. Stanford won the first meeting 5-2 on April 6 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Despite the absence of Hippensteel, who plays No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, the Cardinal gave the Bruins all they could handle. Stanford pulled off a pair of impressive singles victories, including David Martin's (Tulsa, OK) 6-3, 64 upset win over Tobias Clemens (Bonn, Germany) at No. 1 singles. Martin, who is ranked No. 37 in the nation, was playing in the No. 1 slot for just the third time this season. At No. 5 singles, Stanford freshman Sam Warburg (Sacramento, CA) won the final 12 games to defeat Bruin junior Erfan Djahangiri (Pully, Switzerland) 0-6, 6-0, 6-0.
The hosts opened the match by winning two of the three doubles matches to capture the first point.
The No. 1 doubles match featured the top two ranked doubles teams in the nation, with the Cardinal's second-ranked team of Lipsky and Martin defeating top-ranked Marcin Matkowski (Szczecin, Poland) 9-7. Lipsky and Martin have won two of the three matches between the teams this season. At No. 2, junior Ryan Haviland (Aiken, SC) and Warburg, who were playing together for the first time this year, won the final five games to upset 53rd-ranked Clemens and Lassi Ketola (Helsinki, Finaldn) 8-5.
#2 UCLA 4, #4 Stanford 3
Doubles (Stanford wins point)
No. 1 - #2 Scott Lipsky/David Martin (S) d. #1 Marcin Matkowski/Jean-Julien Rojer, 9-7
No. 2 - Ryan Haviland/Sam Warburg (S) d. #53 Tobias Clemens/Lassi Ketola, 8-5
No. 3 - Alberto Francis/Rodrigo Grilli (UCLA) d. Joe Kao/Phil Sheng, 9-7
Singles
No. 1 - #37 David Martin (S) d. #6 Tobias Clemens, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 - #115 Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) d. #59 Scott Lipsky, 7-5, 6-4
No. 3 - #23 Marcin Matkowski (UCLA) d. #76 Ryan Haviland, 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 - #58 Rodrigo Grilli (UCLA) d. Phil Sheng, 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 - Sam Warburg (S) d. Erfan Djahangiri, 0-6, 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 - Lassi Ketola (UCLA) d. Joe Kao, 6-2, 6-1
Records - #2 UCLA 19-3 overall (6-0 Pacific-10 Conference), #4 Stanford 19-4 (5-1).
Player and team rankings are courtesy of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and Omni Hotels.