University of Washington
Pac-10 Championships
UW's Vlaski Advances to Championship Match of Pac-10 Tournament
April 27, 2002 | Men's Tennis
April 27, 2002
OJAI, Ca. - Washington freshman Alex Vlaski (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) advanced to the finals of the Pac-10 Championships by defeating No. 21 Marcin Matkowski of UCLA, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the semifinals at Libbey Park Saturday afternoon.
Vlaski, who lost the first set 6-4 and was down 4-3 in the second with Matkowski serving, put together an impressive come from behind victory to become the first player in UW history to advance to the Pac-10 finals. Washington had had only one other player in the semifinals, prior to this year when they had two, in 1998 when Eric Drew lost in a three-set match.
Junior Matt Hanlin (Birmingham, England) faced No. 48 Rodrigo Grilli of UCLA in his semifinal matchup, but could not hold on as the Bruin defeated him in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, suffering only his sixth loss on the year.
Vlaski, now 23-6 overall this season, will go head to head with Grilli in the final match beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday morning.
2002 Pac-10 Championships Saturday, April 27, 2002 Ojai, California, Libbey ParkMen's Singles-Main Draw-Semifinals
(37) Alex Vlaski (UW) d. (21) Marcin Matkowski (UCLA) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 (48) Rodrigo Grilli (UCLA) d. Matt Hanlin (UW) 6-3, 6-4Men's Singles-Invitational Draw-Consolation Nick Weiss (UW) d. Jason Menke (UO) 6-2, 6-1 Peter Scharler (UW) d. Kyle Halberg (UO) 6-2, 6-1 Chris King (UO) d. Scott Felsenthal (UW) 6-4, 6-4
Men's Doubles-Invitational Draw-First Round and Quarterfinals Palmanshofer/Scharler (UW) d. Angiel/Arapovic (UA) WD (inj.) (from Friday) Briaud/Veress (Cal) d. Palmanshofer/Scharler (UW) 9-7
Men's Doubles-Invitational Draw-Consolation Palmanshofer/Felsenthal (UW) d. Halberg/Paalberg (UO) 8-5
