Florida Gators
South Florida (NCAA 2nd round)
Men's Tennis Edges USF in NCAA 2nd Round
Sunday, May 12, 2002 | Men's Tennis
"This team earned this win today," Florida head coach Andy Jackson said. "I know that we are going to go to play tough and be competitive at the final rounds next week. Today's match came down to Hamid (Mirzadeh) and we were lucky that he has worked hard all year and was just tougher than his opponent. I was not surprised by the way the match went today. We are not a team that dominates, but we battle to the very end. I think being picked last at the beginning of the season gave us a big psychological advantage and gave us a little stronger of a hunger for the season."
Florida rolled to a doubles point win to open the match. The No. 1 team of Chris McDonald and Mirzadeh broke USF's serve at 2-2 and 5-3 to take charge and go on for a 8-3 win. The No. 2 match was the clincher as Olivier Levant and Eleazar Magallan utilized strong play at the net, and a timely service break at 6-4 to produce a 8-4 win. The No. 3 match was suspended with Florida ahead 7-6 and 30-love.
UF extended its lead to 2-0 when singles play opened as Levant posted a 6- 4, 6-1 win at No. 3 over Dan McCain as Levant broke in the opening game of the second set and carried that momentum for the remainder of the match. USF closed the gap to 2-1 a few minutes later when Uli Kiendl capped his 6- 1, 6-3 win at No. 4 over Troy Hahn. UF went up 3-1 when Matt Behrmann won his 11th consecutive match overall with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Nadim Naser at No. 5, 6-3, 6-3, producing an ace on the first of a triple match point.
The Bulls charged forth and won the next two matches to tie the score at 3- 3. Jorge Escallon needed just one match point to beat Ross Greenstein at No. 6, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 2, Magallan fought back from a 5-1 second-set deficit but could complete the rally as Paco Antelo sealed a 6-3, 6-4 USF win with a service winner.
The decisive match at No. 1 had a couple of plot twists. Mirzadeh led 5-4 in the first set but had his service broken by Martin Wetzel to even the score a 5-5. Wetzel held to go up 6-5 and, although battling through deuce, Mirzadeh held his service to force a tie breaker on his third set point. Wetzel claimed that critical tiebreaker, 7-4, and quickly went up a break in the second set at 3-1. Wetzel then started to cramp up in the 90- plus degree heat and took a injury timeout 1:55 into the match while serving up 3-2. Wetzel's mobility following the break was minimal and enabled Mirzadeh to take six straight games before Wetzel held his serve at 2-0 in the third set, capping his game victory with an ace, but Mirzadeh held on for the 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 victory.
"It was a very good match and I am proud of my guys," USF head coach Don Barr said. "I think that anybody that goes out and battles like they did are still winners. Martin (Wetzel) really struggled out their with the dehydration problems. He started cramping up and it took lot out of him. He chose to stay in and I was proud of him for that. Florida just out played us out there today and I hope they can go all the way."
"I knew that I just had to play tough and consistent to ride him down," said Mirzadeh. "I knew that there was a lot of pressure on me, but it was on him too. I didn't realize he was hurt right away, but I could tell by the second set that he was. When I saw that I realized that I just had to keep switching up the sides and keep him running and that would be the key to beating him."
With the win, UF advances to the Round of 16 for the ninth time since 1991 and will face No. 4-seed UCLA on Saturday May 18 in College Station, Texas at 8:00 pm ET. The Gators remain undefeated all- time in home NCAA competition, posting a 9-0 mark in NCAA Tournament play and a 12-0 mark overall including a 1995 NCAA Regional Qualifying Tournament.
"We know that we will be the underdogs next week," said Levant. "We have been the underdogs all season and it is so amazing to get that win. We don't really have any expectations for next week, I don't know how it is going to go. I just know that we are going to go to nationals and play the best that we can."
NCAA Men's Tennis
Florida 4, South Florida 3
Doubles
No. 1 #21 Chris McDonald/Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) d. Paco Antelo/Uli Kiendl (USF), 8-3
No. 2 Olivier Levant/Eleazar Magallan (UF) d. Martin Wetzel/Dan McCain (USF), 8-4*
No. 3 Matt Behrmann/Troy Hahn (UF) v. Jorge Escallon/Nadim Naser (USF), 7- 6 Susp.
Singles
No. 1 #100 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) d. #91 Martin Wetzel (USF), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6- 2*
No. 2 #104 Paco Antelo (USF) d. #95 Eleazar Magallan (UF), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Olivier Levant (UF) d. Dan McCain (USF), 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 Uli Kiendl (USF) d. Troy Hahn (UF), 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 Matt Behrmann (UF) d. Nadim Naser (USF), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Jorge Escallon (USF) d. Ross Greenstein (UF), 6-2, 6-3
* denotes match/doubles point clincher
