University of Washington
UCLA
No. 5 Bruins Earn 5-2 Win Over No. 22 Huskies
March 31, 2012 | Men's Tennis
March 31, 2012
SEATTLE - Marathon singles wins were provided by juniors Kyle McMorrow and Marton Bots, but by that time the fifth-ranked UCLA Bruins had already secured the team win, coming out ahead, 5-2, over the 22nd-ranked Husky men's tennis team today. The Bruins won a closely conested doubles point and then picked up a trio of straight set singles wins at the Nordstrom Tennis Center to clinch before UW (12-5, 0-2 Pac-12) posted its points late.
McMorrow ended the day on a high note, surviving a serving war against 59th-ranked Clay Thompson at No. 1 singles. After a couple quick breaks early in the first set gave McMorrow the lead, the two settled into a battle of service holds, with Thompson winning a second set tiebreak to extend things. Again neither player could break through until the 10th game of the third set, when McMorrow got a 0-40 edge with a 5-4 lead, and on match point three, Thompson double faulted to conclude a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4 win for McMorrow.
Bots went the distance as well at third singles against Dennis Novikov. After rolling to a 6-1 first set win, Bots let his guard down in the second and Novikov capitalized, 6-3. The two would not give up serve in the third set and it went into a tiebreak, in which Bots won the final three points to take it, 7-3, and finish the 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 win.
UW had a great chance for a third point, but redshirt freshman Nicholas Kamisar was unable to close out his match against Dennis Mkrtchian after being up a set and a break. Kamisar lost the second set in a tiebreak, then Mkrtchian won the final four games in the third set for a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-3 victory.
UCLA clinched at No. 2 singles, where 30th-ranked fifth-year senior Nick Meister held off freshman Emmett Egger, 6-3, 6-4, despite a great cheering section for Egger, the Issaquah native. That gave the Bruins a 4-0 lead. Earlier, freshman Viktor Farkas was stopped, 6-3, 6-2, by 51st-ranked Adrien Puget at fifth singles, and sophomore Max Manthou suffered a 6-4, 6-2 setback at fourth singles to 115th-ranked Marcos Giron.
The doubles point was level for nearly an hour but in the crucial moments, the Bruins got the late breaks to take the early lead. Even at 6-6 at No. 1 singles, McMorrow and Egger were broken by Brigham and Puget, the first break of the match, and the Bruins then served it out for an 8-6 win. The first break at third doubles came at 5-5, with Giron and Thompson taking the lead on Bots and Stith, and then holding twice for another 8-6 win to clinch the point. At second doubles, Manthou and Jeff Hawke won five straight games to go from 1-4 down to 6-4 up, but UCLA's Meister and Novikov broke back and then won a tiebreak played early at 6-6, taking the breaker, 7-2.
Pac-12 play continues next weekend with the Huskies heading to the Bay Area for matches with California (Apr. 6) and Stanford (Apr. 7).
Washington Men's Tennis
Nordstrom Tennis Center - Seattle, Wash.
March 31, 2012
No. 5 UCLA 5, No. 22 Washington 2
Doubles
2) Meister/Novikov (UCLA) def. Hawke/Manthou (UW), 7-6 (2)
3) Giron/Thompson (UCLA) def. Stith/Bots (UW), 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1) (14) Kyle McMorrow (UW) def. (59) Clay Thompson (UCLA), 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4
2) (30) Nick Meister (UCLA) def. Emmett Egger (UW), 6-3, 6-4
3) Marton Bots (UW) def. Dennis Novikov (UCLA), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (3)
4) (115) Marcos Giron (UCLA) def. Max Manthou (UW), 6-4, 6-2
5) (51) Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. Viktor Farkas (UW), 6-3, 6-2
6) Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) def. Nicholas Kamisar (UW), 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 3, 6, 1
