NCAA Tennis : In All-Georgia Final, Pernfors Wins for Second Year in a Row

Mikael Pernfors of Georgia beat teammate George Bezecny, 6-2, 6-3, Sunday to become the first player in 21 years to win successive singles titles in the NCAA men’s individual championships.

A team from Pepperdine won the doubles competition for the second straight year as Carlos DiLaura and Kelly Jones defeated the team of Charles Beckman and Royce Deppe of Texas, 7-5, 7-6.

It took Pernfors, the top-seeded player, 92 minutes to defeat his friend and roommate in front of a crowd of 4,457.

“I felt kind of sorry for George because we were playing each other and somebody had to lose,” Pernfors said. “We thought it would be a lot easier to play each other--at least I did--but it wasn’t. Something was missing from the way we usually play.

“You should see our practice sets. They’re much more competitive than what you saw today.”

The last champion to repeat was USC’s Dennis Ralston, who won in 1963-1964.

“It was a whole lot of fun to be playing for the national title but it felt a little strange to be doing it against Mikael,” Bezecny said.

Pernfors, now 3-0 against the senior from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., forced Bezecny to play deep, taking away his net game.

“I just didn’t have it today,” said Bezecny, who was seeded seventh. “He was playing so tough, I couldn’t play the type of game I prefer.”

Pernfors, a senior from Sweden, admitted that despite last year’s victory, he is still not sure what the whole thing means.

“I’m not really familiar with what winning the championship is all about,” he said. “I didn’t grow up surrounded by collegiate sports.”

With two players in the final, Georgia was guaranteed the first back-to-back singles champions since Stanford’s John McEnroe succeeded teammate Matt Mitchell in 1978.

In last year’s doubles competition Kelly Jones teamed with Jerome Jones to win the title.

This year marked the first time in 26 years that the California big three of college tennis--USC, UCLA and Stanford--didn’t win a championship in team, singles or doubles play.