TENNIS NCAA MEN’S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS : At Last, USC Makes First Trip to Finals

Top-seeded USC ended its semifinal losing streak in the NCAA men’s tennis championships Monday with a 5-2 victory over three-time defending champion and third-ranked Stanford at Athens, Ga.

The Trojans (29-2) had reached the semifinals eight times since the dual-match format was adopted in 1977, but never advanced to the final. The Cardinal eliminated the Trojans three times in the semifinals, including last year.

But thanks to victories by Jon Leach, David Ekerot and Andras Lanyi, the Trojans’ Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles players, and Byron Black’s upsets in singles and doubles, USC advances to face No. 4 Georgia (27-2) in today’s final.

The Bulldogs, who won the tournament in 1985 and ‘87, defeated No. 6 California, 5-4, in a match that took 8 hours 10 minutes, including a one-hour rain delay.

USC has lost to Georgia in the NCAA tournament in Athens five times since 1977, but beat the Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament at Indian Wells.

Leach, a January graduate from Laguna Beach High, defeated Vimal Patel, 7-5, 6-1. Ekerot, a left-handed sophomore from Sweden, topped Jason Yee, 6-4, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3. Lanyi, a sophomore and a member of Hungary’s Davis Cup team, beat Michael Flanagan, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

Black, USC’s No. 2 singles player and ranked 12th, upset third-ranked Jonathan Stark, 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-2, and teamed with Brian MacPhie to upset Stark and Jared Palmer, the nation’s top-ranked doubles team, 6-4, 6-1, in the match that clinched the victory.

Stanford (20-5) got its victories from Alex O’Brien, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 over MacPhie, and Palmer, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4 over Donny Isaak.