The ninth-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team kept its SEC title hopes alive Friday as the Gators rallied from dropping the doubles point to defeat No. 14 LSU, 5-2, in Baton Rouge. With the win, the Gators will need an Ole Miss loss at Kentucky on Sunday and a win over Arkansas the same afternoon to share the title. With the victory against LSU, the Gators improved to 14-6 on the season and 7-3 in SEC play. The Tigers fell to 15-5 and 6-4 in the league.
Florida was defeated on the top two courts in doubles play as the Gators lost their eighth doubles point on the season. Only UF's Martin Stiegwardt and Stefan Tell came up with a win by outlasting LSU's Ken Skupski and Danny Bryan, 9-7, at the bottom of the lineup.
Entering singles play, the Gators hold a 2-5 record on the year when losing the doubles point. However, the top of the lineup played well for UF and wins on the top two courts put the Gators ahead.
UF's Hamid Mirzadeh (No. 7) continued his winning ways by defeating Skupski (No. 29) 6-3, 6-4, on court one. The win was the fourth consecutive in straight sets for Mirzadeh, who is riding a season-long victory streak. It was also the fourth ranked opponent he has defeated in the last five meetings.
On the next court down, UF's 71st-ranked Janne Holmia defeated Justin Hazley to make it a 2-1 UF advantage before Jordan Dolberg got UF to within one of clinching the match with a 7-5, 6-2, win over Sebastian Rutka on court five. Dolberg has not dropped a match since making the first appearance of his collegiate career on April 2 vs. Mississippi State and improved to 3-1 in singles play.
UF got the win it was looking for when Vladimir Obradovic (No. 59) defeated Peter Richman on court No. 3 (6-4, 2-6, 6-2). The win improved Obradovic's dual match singles record to a team best 15-3 on the season and 7-6 in SEC play. UF's Chris Brandi rounded out the scoring with a win over LSU's Bryan Fisher on court four (6-2, 4-6, 7-6), stopping Brandi's two match losing skid.
The Florida men's tennis team will conclude the regular season on Sunday, April 18, as the Gators take on No. 27 Arkansas in Fayetteville at 1 p.m.
UF vs. LSU
Friday, April 16, 2004
Doubles
1. #26 Bryan Fisher/Jason Hazley, LSU def. #29 Hamid Mirzadeh/Chris Brandi, Florida, 8-4
2. #41 Cory Ross/Sebastian Rutka, LSU def. Janne Holmia/Vladimir Obradovic, Florida, 8-2
3. Martin Stiegwardt/Stefan Tell, Florida def. Ken Skupski/Danny Bryan, LSU, 9-7
Singles
1. #7 Hamid Mirzadeh, Florida def. #28 Ken Skupski, LSU, 6-3, 6-4
2. #71 Janne Holmia, Florida def. Jason Hazley, LSU, 6-3, 6-1
3. #59 Vladimir Obradovic, Florida def. Peter Richman, LSU, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
4. Chris Brandi, Florida def. Bryan Fisher, LSU, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6
5. Jordan Dolberg, Florida def. Sebastian Rutka, LSU, 7-5, 6-2
6. Cory Ross, LSU def. Martin Stiegwardt, Florida, 6-0, 5-7, 6-4
