Florida Gators
National Team Indoor - Harvard
UF Advances At USTA/ITA Indoors
Friday, February 6, 2004 | Men's Tennis
The third-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team took its first step toward an indoor national title at the 2003 USTA/ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Seattle on Thursday when the Gators defeated Harvard, 4-0. For the fourth time in five years, UF secured a spot in the quarterfinals and meet will the winner of tonight's UCLA-Kentucky match.
UF had the doubles point when Vladimir Obradovic and Trey Johnson teamed on court two defeat Jonathan Chu and Matt Riddell, 8-5, and Janne Holmia and Martin Stiegwardt took an 8-1 win over Jack Li and Chris Chiou.
The Gators got the three singles wins they needed from Orbradovic, Chris Brandi and Stefan Tell in straight sets. Obradovic, who was playing at three, defeated Riddell (6-1, 6-2), while Brandi who was one court down the lineup took a 6-2, 6-2 decision from Cliff Nguyen. Tell, who was on court No. 6, used a score of 6-2, 6-0 over Li to give the Gators the vicotry.
In the 28-year history of the event, Florida has made seven appearances and owns a 9-16 record and is 4-5 in opening round play.
The USTA/ITA, which began in 1973, and is the ITA's longest-running event typically serves as an early season indicator as to who will claim the NCAA title in May. On nine occasions, the team that won the USTA/ITA title went on to win the NCAA Championship. There have been four times where the USTA/ITA runner-up went on to win the NCAAs.
Doubles
1. Mirzadeh/Brandi (F) vs. Lingman/Chu (H) DNF
2. Obradovic/Johnson (F) def. Riddell/Chiu (H) 8-5
3. Homia/Stiegwardt (F) def. Li/Chiou (H) 8-1
Singles
1. Ham Mirzadeh (F) vs. David Lingman (H) DNF
2. Janne Holmia (F) vs. Jonathan Chu (H) DNF
3. Vlad Obradovic (F) def. Mark Riddell (H) 6-1, 6-2
4. Chris Brandi (F) def. Cliff Nguyen (H) 6-2, 6-2
5. Ryan Sherry (F) vs. Chris Chiou (H) DNF
6. StefanTell (F) def. Jack Li (H) 6-3, 6-0
