TENNIS / NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS : USC’s Black Moves Into Singles Final

Top-seeded Wayne Black of USC and Mark Merklein of Florida advanced to the NCAA men’s tennis singles finals Saturday.

Black, the No. 1 player in the country, eliminated Joakim Appelqvist of Mississippi, 6-4, 6-4, and Merklein defeated No. 2-seeded Marcus Hilpert of Arkansas, 6-4, 6-3.

Black will also be in the doubles final today as he and Jon Leach beat Andy Zurcher and Todd Wilson of Notre Dame, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3. Black and Leach will face Mississippi State’s Joc Simmons and Laurent Miquelard, who beat Chris Mahony and Pablo Montana of Tennessee, 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals.

Merklein (37-5) beat Black (30-4), when they first met in February in the National Indoor Championship at Louisville, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.

Merklein, the No. 4 national singles player, started strongly against Hilpert, going up 4-0 in the first set. “If I play the way I did today, I have a good shot at the title,” Merklein said.