NCAA TENNIS : Stanford’s O’Brien Dominates

Alex O’Brien of Stanford became the first man since 1974 to win the singles and doubles championships, taking both titles in straight sets Sunday at the NCAA men’s tennis tournament in Athens, Ga.

A senior from Amarillo, Tex., O’Brien defeated poor-serving and error-prone Wade McGuire of Georgia, 6-3, 6-2, and then joined with Chris Cocotos for a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over teammates Vimal Patel and Jason Yee.

O’Brien’s victories marked the first time a school has won the team, singles and doubles championships since the tournament’s dual- match format began in 1977. The last man to win both the singles and doubles titles in the same year was John Whitlinger of Stanford, now the team’s associate coach.

“We’ve never had anyone do the kinds of things (Alex) has done,” said Stanford Coach Dick Gould, who has coached eight NCAA singles champions in his 26 years at the school, including John McEnroe. “He’s got tremendous heart and courage, but at the same time he’s really not the gung-ho type. . . . He thought briefly about turning pro last summer. Thank goodness he came back.”

The singles title was the second consecutive and 11th overall for Stanford. The doubles title was also the 11th for Stanford.