Florida Gators
UCLA (NCAA Round of 16)
Men's Tennis Falls to UCLA in NCAA Round of 16
Sunday, May 19, 2002 | Men's Tennis
"UCLA was too good," UF head coach Andy Jackson said. "They are one of the teams that has a chance to win this whole thing. We didn’t play to the level to give ourselves a chance to win this match tonight although a lot of that had to do with them. I'm proud of the guys for this season. It's tough to end it on with this match but I'm proud of this season."
The Bruins took the doubles point to open play in some tight contests. UCLA took control of the No. 2 match with a service break up 3-2 and held on for an 8-5 win. The No. 3 match saw both sides lead at various points. After UF's Matt Behrmann and Troy Hahn broke serve to even the score at 3- 3, UCLA broke back and held the lead until posting an 8-6 final. The most interesting match of the day was the suspended contest at No. 1 where Chris McDonald and Hamid Mirzadeh led throughout a match against top- ranked Marcin Matkowski and Jean-Julier Roger of UCLA. The Bruin duo saved a pair of match points down 7-6 and would not fall as the match was suspended with UF up 8-7 and about to play the first of a triple match point.
UCLA cruised through the singles competition, needing just 1:11 to capture the three matches necessary for the team victory. The first Bruin to win was 10th ranked Tobias Clemens who beat Mirzadeh, 6-2, 6-1. UCLA took a 3- 0 advantage at No. 5 where Efran Djahangiri beat Matt Behrmann, 6-4, 6-2, capping the match with a service winner and snapping an 11-match winning steak for the Gator junior. Eleazar Magallan battled for Florida at No. 2 but eventually fell, 6-3, 6-4.
Florida trailed on each of the three suspended matches. The No. 3 match saw Olivier Levant down 6-3, 5-5 when play was stopped, at No. 4 Hahn was down 6-3, 5-2 and at No. 6 Trey Johnson trailed 6-4, 2-2.
Doubles
1) #21 Chris McDonald/Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) v. #1 Marcin Matkowski/Jean- Julier Roger (UCLA) 8-7 Susp.
2) #29 Tobias Clemens/Lassi Ketola (UCLA) d. Olivier Levant/Eleazar Magallan (UF), 8-5
3) Alberto Franco/Rodrigo Grilli (UCLA) d. Matt Behrmann/Troy Hahn (UF), 8- 6
Singles
1) #10 Tobias Clemens (UCLA) d. #100 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF), 6-2, 6-1
2) #32 Rodrigo Grilli (UCLA) d. #95 Eleazar Magallan (UF), 6-3, 6-4
3) Olivier Levant (UF) v. #22 Marcin Matkowski (UCA), 3-6, 5-5 Susp.
4) Troy Hahn (UF) v. #86 Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA), 3-6, 2-5 Susp.
5) Efran Djahangiri (UCLA) d. Matt Behrmann (UF), 6-4, 6-2
6) Trey Johnson (UF) v. Lassi Ketola (UCLA), 4-6, 2-2 Susp.
