UCLA
National Indoor Championships
No. 7 UCLA Defeats No. 3 Duke 5-2 In National Team Indoors
February 27, 2000 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 26, 2000
Louisville, Ky. - For the second straight year, the UCLA men's tennis team defeated Duke in the semifinals of the National Team Indoor Championships. The seventh-ranked Bruins upset the third-ranked Blue Devils, 5-2, in Saturday's match at the Louisville Tennis Club, handing the Blue Devils first loss of the season.
UCLA opened the match by winning a close doubles point, as Brandon Kramer and Jong-Min Lee defeated Duke's Doug Root/Ramsey Smith 9-7, and Jean-Noel Grinda and Jean-Julien Rojer defeated Cerenko/Rueger 8-3.
The Bruins also won three of the four singles matches that went to match tie-breakers. Lee defeated Root at No. 1 singles, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-7). Rojer won a straight-set decision over Andres Pedroso, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in courth three, and Erfan Djhangiri won over Cerenko on court five, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9).Lassi Ketola's win at No. 4 singles in the match tie-breaker put the Bruins ahead 4-1, clinching the victory.
Ketola, Rojer and Djahangiri remained undefeated in the tournament with 3-0 records.
The Bruins, who won their sixth consecutive match, advances to Sunday's 1 p.m. final against Stanford. UCLA will be looking for its fourth Team Indoor title in five years and seventh overall title.
Results UCLA 5, Duke 2 Records: UCLA 11-1, Duke 6-1DOUBLES 1. Kramer/Lee (UCLA) def. Root/Smith (D), 9-7** 2. Grinda/Rojer (UCLA) def. Cerenko/Rueger (D), 8-3 3. Jones/Michael Yani (D) def. Ketola/Travis Rettenmaier. 8-5 UCLA wins doubles point
SINGLES 1. Jong-Min Lee (UCLA) def. Doug Root (D), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-7) 2. Ramsey Smith (D) def. Brandon Kramer (UCLA), 6-3, 6-2 3. Julien Rojer (UCLA) def. Andres Pedroso (D), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) 4. Lassi Ketola (UCLA) def. Joel Spicher (D), 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9)** 5. Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) def. Marko Cerenko (D), 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9) 6. Porter Jones (D) def. Chris Sands (UCLA), 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
