Florida Gators
Texas
Men's Tennis Topples Texas In NCAA Rnd of 16 Tilt
Saturday, May 17, 2003 | Men's Tennis
For the fourth time in school history, the University of Florida men's tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Championships as the third-seeded Gators shook off dropping the doubles point to bounce back for a 4-3 Round of 16 victory over 14th-seeded Texas. With the win on Saturday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA, Florida will face sixth-seeded UCLA on Sunday at noon as the Bruins eliminated Oklahoma State, 4-0.
With the win, the Gators improved to 25-4 on the season to match the 1975 squad for the second best season in terms of wins. UF also went to 22-12 in NCAA Tournament play all-time, and in addition moved to 2-3 on the year when dropping the doubles point (Cal., Feb. 21, USTA/ITA Indoor National Quarterfinals). Texas ended its 2003 campaign with a 19-7 overall record after having advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the 11th time in the past 12 years.
"I thought our guys played a long tough match and we feel for Texas because they were no less deserving," said UF head coach Andy Jackson. "We are excited about playing in the quarterfinals tomorrow against a UCLA team which is obviously one of the best in the country."
For only the fifth time this season, the Gators dropped the doubles point with losses on courts two and three. Florida's 41st-ranked duo of Matt Behrmann and Troy Hahn were in a battle at the bottom of the lineup where they trailed 3-1 before battling back to get within one at 5-4. At that point, the match went back and forth to 7-6 before Texas put it away in 57 minutes and thirty seconds.
The Longhorns wouldn't wait long to go up 1-0 when Jimmy Haney and Pete Stroer took out UF's 35th-ranked Eleazar Magallan and Olivier Levant thirty seconds later, 8-4. Coming into the match, the No. 2 Texas team had dropped only two matches all season. On court one, Florida's Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris McDonald (16) were having little trouble when things were suspended at 7-2.
"We spent a lot of time all year talking about how the doubles point and how you can't get to wrapped up in it," Jackson said. "You have to continue to play and we wanted to stick with that. That's not to say we weren't upset about losing it, but I didn't feel like we were panicked. We did a good job to make the transition into singles."
The singles would turn into a fight with Florida taking each of the first sets, half of which went into tiebreakers. The Gators seemed in good shape before Texas turned it around and forced third sets on each court.
"I felt like we made some mistakes in the second sets and Texas did a good job of continuing to play," Jackson said. "We've had that happen against some opponents this year where they went away after us jumping on them in the singles. To Texas' credit they didn't do that and to ours we responded in the third set."
Florida jumped out to a 3-1 lead when Olivier Levant, Eleazar Magallan and Troy Hahn took care of their matches on courts four, six and three respectively. Levant took a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 decision over Jimmy Haney, while Magallan used a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 score to defeat Roger Gubser. Hahn got the Gators to within one when he outlasted 116th-ranked Antonio Ruiz 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4. The point UF needed to clinch would proved to be a difficult one when the Longhorns took wins on courts one and five. The outcome of the match would be decided on court two where freshman Janne Holmia (No. 6) had a 5-4 lead on Jose Zahri (No. 75) in the third set. Holmia would not let things get any closer though as he pulled off a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-4 win for the Gator victory.
Florida and UCLA have met once this season already in the semifinals of the USTA/ITA Indoor Nationals. In that match the Gators defeated the then-number one ranked Bruins, 4-1 to advance to the finals of the event for the first time in school history.
NCAA Men's Tennis
Florida 4, Texas 3
Doubles
No. 1 #16 Hamid Mirzadeh/Chris McDonald (UF) vs. #20 Jean Simon / Jose Zarhi (UT), Susp., 7-2
No. 2 Jimmy Haney/Pete Stroer (UT) def. #35 Olivier Levant/Eleazar Magallan, 8-4
No. 3 Ryan Hammond/Antonio Ruiz (UT) def. #41 Matt Behrmann/Troy Hahn (UF), 8-6
Singles
No. 1 #47 Jean Simon (UT) d. #15 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF), 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 #6 Janne Holmia (UF) d. #75 Jose Zarhi (UT), 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-4
No. 3 Troy Hahn (UF) vs.. #116 Antonio Ruiz (UT), 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4
No. 4 Olivier Levant (UF) vs. Jimmy Haney (UT), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 5 Pete Stroer (UT) d. Matt Behrmann (UF) 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (2)
No. 6 Eleazar Magallan (UF) vs. Roger Gubser (UT), 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
Numbers preceding names indicate current national rankings
