Florida Gators
NCAA Championships - Individ.
Ouellette Advances Into Singles Round of 16; Doubles Slips
Thursday, May 26, 2005 | Men's Tennis
University of Florida men's tennis newcomer Greg Ouellette (Ormond Beach, Fla.) turned in another victorious performance in the NCAA Singles Championship draw in College Station, Texas on Thursday as he posted a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over Virginia Tech's 72nd-ranked Stephane Rod to move on to the round of 16.
Ouellette's win came before inclement weather forced delays in many of the days matches, including his doubles debut with senior Hamid Mirzadeh against Arizona's 20th-ranked Roger Matalonga and Colin O'Grady. After play resumed, Ouellette and Mirzadeh fell to the Arizona tandem, 6-3, 6-4.
Ouellette will face South Alabama's 16th-ranked Fraticek Babej in the round of 16 as Babej took a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4 win against UNLV's 74th-ranked Henner Nehles.
Ouellette made his way into Thursday's round of 32 with a win over eighth-seeded and sixth-ranked Alex Vlaski (7-5, 0-6, 6-2) Wednesday. He now owns a record of 38-9 in singles play and has defeated nine ranked opponents this year. With today's outcome, his win total is tied with Jeff Morrison (2000) and Mark Merklein (1994) for the third highest amount in one year by a UF player.
The doubles loss brought to a close the career of UF senior Hamid Mirzadeh. Mirzadeh became the school's third three-time All-American as he and Ouellette were seeded eighth in the doubles draw. During his career, he played all four years at the top spot in the singles lineup where he went 63-55 overall. In doubles play, he went 31-26 overall. A season ago, Mirzadeh was the only player in NCAA Division I Men's Tennis to advance to the quarterfinal round of the singles doubles draw.
Florida has had two NCAA singles champions (Merklein in 1994 and Morrison in 1999) and one doubles champion (Merklein and David Blair in 1993).
Singles No. 49 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. No. 72 Stephane Rod (Virginia Tech), 7-6 (4), 7-5
Doubles
No. 20 Roger Matalonga/Colin O'Grady (Arizona) def. No. 8 Greg Ouellette/Hamid Mirzadeh (UF), 6-3, 6-4
