UCLA Team Page
LOS ANGELES - The No. 3 UCLA men's tennis team improved to 5-0 on the season on Tuesday afternoon, registering a hard fought 5-2 victory over No. 26 San Diego at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Entering the match listed at No. 26 in the current ITA Rankings, the Toreros (3-2) were by far the toughest opponent that the Bruins have faced this season. It showed in singles play, where the two teams had several fierce battles, specifically at the Nos. 3-5 positions.
After UCLA took a 1-0 lead by capturing the doubles point, the Bruins quickly went ahead 2-0 when redshirt freshman Karue Sell posted a 6-2, 6-0 win over Ciaran Fitzgerald at court No. 6. The only other fairly routine win for UCLA on the day came at court No. 1, where sophomore Dennis Novikov downed Thibaut Visy, 6-2, 6-4.
Adrien Puget would get the clinching win for UCLA at the No. 2 spot, where he pulled out the first set in a tiebreaker over 62nd-ranked Romain Kalaydjian, eventually winning 7-6(3), 6-4.
The Bruins, however, would suffer losses in the next two matches, as 12th-ranked Marcos Giron was upset 7-6(7), 4-6, (11-9) by Clarke Spinosa at court No. 3, and 41st-ranked Dennis Mkrtchian was bested by Uros Petronijevoc, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 at court No. 4, cutting UCLA's lead to 4-2.
Junior Clay Thompson picked up UCLA's fifth point of the afternoon in the final match of the day, as he recovered from a tough first set to come back and beat Victor Pugliese, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
UCLA still has two more home matches this week, hosting No. 19 Stanford on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and No. 13 Cal on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Both matches are at the Los Angeles Tennis Center and are free to attend.
#3 UCLA 5, #26 San Diego 2
Feb 05, 2013 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Giron/Novikov (UCLA) vs. Fitzgerald/Kalaydjian (USD) 7-4, unfinished
2. Puget/Sell (UCLA) def. Petronijevoc/Visy (USD) 8-5
3. Alex Brigham/Mkrtchian (UCLA) def. Andrew Carlisle/Spinosa (USD) 8-3
UCLA Wins Doubles Point
Singles
1. Dennis Novikov (UCLA) def. Thibaut Visy (USD) 6-2, 6-4
2. Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. #62 Romain Kalaydjian (USD) 7-6(3), 6-4
3. Clarke Spinosa (USD) def. #12 Marcos Giron (UCLA) 7-6(7), 4-6, (11-9)
4. Uros Petronijevoc (USD) def. #41 Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2
5. Clay Thompson (UCLA) def. Victor Pugliese (USD) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
6. Karue Sell (UCLA) def. Ciaran Fitzgerald (USD) 6-2, 6-0
Match Notes
San Diego 3-2; National ranking #26
UCLA 5-0; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,1,2,4,3,5)
