NCAA Tennis : Georgia Defeats UCLA for Title

Philip Johnson beat Brett Greenwood of defending champion UCLA to give Georgia a 5-1 singles victory and the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. team tennis championship Tuesday.

The championship, Georgia’s first in an NCAA team sport, marked the first time since 1972 that a California school did not win the tournament.

Georgia, appearing in the championship match for the first time, was seeded sixth and was the lowest-ranked seed to reach the final since the team format in 1977. UCLA was top seeded, while USC was seeded second.

The championship round did not go into doubles because the Bulldogs got the needed five victories in singles competition.

Mikael Pernfors, the defending individual champion, defeated Michael Kures, 6-2, 6-3; Georgie Bezecny beat Jeff Klaparda, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Allen Miller downed Brad Pearce, 6-4, 6-4; and Trey Carter defeated Ken Diller, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3. Johnson topped Greenwood, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 in the final singles match.

UCLA’s Mark Basham defeated Georgia’s Deane Frey, 6-1, 7-5.

To get to Tuesday’s final, Georgia beat USC, 5-3, while defending champion UCLA defeated SMU, 5-4, Monday.