UCLA
Stanford
No. 2 Bruins Edge No. 4 Cardinal, 4-3
April 19, 2002 | Men's Tennis
April 19, 2002
Stanford, Calif. - The No. 2-ranked UCLA men's tennis team earned at least a share of the 2002 Pac-10 title Friday, defeating No. 4 Stanford, 4-3 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium in Stanford, Calif. With the victory, UCLA improves to 19-3 overall and 6-0 in the Pac-10. A victory over Cal tomorrow and the Bruins will win the Pac-10 title outright. Stanford falls to 19-4 overall and 5-1 in Pac-10 play.
The Cardinal, which was playing without three-time All-American K.J. Hippensteel and Bruins added another chapter to their storied rivalry on Friday with yet another dual that came down to the final match.
With the score tied at 3-3, UCLA's Jean-Julien Rojer outlasted the Cardinal's Scott Lipsky, 7-5, 6-4 to help the Bruins earn a split in the 2001-02 series between the teams. Stanford won the first meeting 5-2 on April 6 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Despite the absence of Hippensteel, who plays No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, the Cardinal gave the Bruins all they could handle. Stanford pulled off a pair of impressive singles victories, including David Martin's 6-3, 64 upset win over Tobias Clemens at No. 1 singles. Martin, who is ranked No. 37 in the nation, was playing in the No. 1 slot for just the third time this season. At No. 5 singles, Stanford freshman Sam Warburg won the final 12 games to defeat Bruin junior Erfan Djahangiri, 0-6, 6-0, 6-0.
The hosts opened the match by winning two of the three doubles matches to capture the first point.
The No. 1 doubles match featured the top two ranked doubles teams in the nation, with the Cardinal's second-ranked team of Lipsky and Martin defeating top-ranked Marcin Matkowski, 9-7. Lipsky and Martin have won two of the three matches between the teams this season. At No. 2, junior Ryan Haviland and Warburg, who were playing together for the first time this year, won the final five games to upset 53rd-ranked Clemens and Lassi Ketola, 8-5.
