UCLA Men Reach Finals, but Women Fall to Florida

Top-seeded UCLA and defending champion Stanford advanced Monday to the finals of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament with victories over Texas Christian and host Georgia.

The Bruins coasted to a 4-2 victory over TCU, winning the doubles point for a 1-0 lead and adding three straight-set victories in singles, including the clinching match by Eric Taino at No. 3.

In a matchup of the nation’s top two players, No. 1 Justin Gimelstob of UCLA defeated No. 2 Paul Robinson, 7-5, 6-0.

Stanford rallied to a 4-3 victory over Georgia after losing the doubles point. The Cardinal fought back to win four singles matches, including the clincher at No. 6 by senior Ricky Becker.

Becker kept Stanford’s title hopes alive by fighting off three match points and eventually beating freshman Hisham Hemeda, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Becker clinched the national title for Stanford last season.

Stanford (22-4) will face UCLA (27-0) for the title today. The Bruins have three victories this season over Stanford, which has won 11 titles.

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The UCLA’s women’s team lost to Florida, 5-1, at Tallahassee, Fla. The Gators (30-0) will play Stanford (25-1) for the championship today. The Cardinal defeated Duke, 5-2.

UCLA’s Keri Phebus, the defending singles and doubles champion, outlasted Florida’s Jill Craybas at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.

But Florida’s No. 2 singles player, Dawn Buth, rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the third set to clinch the team victory with a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win over Paige Yaroshuk.

Florida’s bottom four singles players--Divya Merchant, Lisa Pugliese, Bonnie Bleecker and Stephanie Nickitas--won easily, losing an average of less than four games per match.

Stanford’s Ania Bleszynski came back to defeat Duke’s Vanessa Webb, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Other Cardinal winners included Katie Schlukebir, Sandra De Silva and Kim Shasby.

Stanford won after a 93-minute rain delay, as the No. 2 doubles team of Julie Scott and Kim Shasby beat Duke’s Wendy Fix and Laura Zifer, 6-1, 6-3.