UCLA
Cal
No. 4 Men's Tennis Defeats No. 17 Cal, 6-1
February 03, 2006 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 3, 2006
Berkeley, Calif. - In a match much closer than the final score indicated, the fourth-ranked UCLA men's tennis team survived its first true test of the 2006 season Friday, recording a 6-1 victory over No. 17 Cal in a non-conference showdown at the Hellman Tennis Center. With the win, the Bruins remain undefeated on the season at 4-0, while the Golden Bears drop their first match of the year, falling to 2-1.
Although the Bruins claimed the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead in the match, the Golden Bears came out strong in singles play, winning the first set on three of six courts. Cal's Conor Niland tied the match at 1-1 when he upset third-ranked Benjamin Kohlloeffel, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 1 position.
UCLA junior Philipp Gruendler, playing his first singles match since the Bruins' season opener against San Diego, gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead when he downed 79th-ranked Daniel Sebescen, 6-2, 6-3 at court No. 4. The Bruins went ahead 3-1 shortly thereafter, as Chris Surapol was a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Ken Nakahara at court No. 5.
Freshman Haythem Abid clinched the match for UCLA at court No. 2, rallying from a set down to defeat Lennart Maack, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
With the match already decided, UCLA's Jeremy Drean and Mathieu Dehaine both pulled out three setters to give the Bruins a 6-1 victory.
UCLA has another tough road test on Saturday, as the Bruins take on No. 12 Stanford at 1:00 p.m. The Pac-10 counting matches against these two schools will not be until early April at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Doubles
| Pos. | Opponents | Score |
| 1. | Gruendler/Kohlloeffel (UCLA) def. Heavey/Niland (Cal) | 8-2 |
| 2. | Abid/Surapol (UCLA) def. Browne/Dean Wallace (Cal) | 8-4 |
| 3. | Dehaine/ Aaron Yovan (UCLA) def. Maack/Sebescen (Cal) | 8-6 |
| UCLA Wins Doubles Point | ||
Singles
| Pos. | Opponents | Score |
| 1. | Conor Niland (Cal) def. (3) Benjamin Kohlloeffel (UCLA) | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2. | Haythem Abid (UCLA) def. Lennart Maack (Cal) | 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 |
| 3. | (75) Mathieu Dehaine (UCLA) def. (55) Tyler Browne (Cal) | 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2) |
| 4. | Philipp Gruendler (UCLA) def. (79) Daniel Sebescen (Cal) | 6-2, 6-3 |
| 5. | Chris Surapol (UCLA) def. Ken Nakahara (Cal) | 7-5, 6-4 |
| 6. | Jeremy Drean (UCLA) def. Eoin Heavey (Cal) | 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-3 |
| * Denotes Clinching Match -- Singles Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5, 2, 6, 3 | ||
