UCLA
Clemson
No. 6 Bruins Overpower No. 24 Clemson, 7-0
January 27, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 27, 2004
LOS ANGELES - The sixth-ranked UCLA men's tennis team posted its third shutout of the season Tuesday, knocking off No. 24 Clemson, 7-0 in a non-conference match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins improve to 3-0 with the victory while the Tigers fall to 3-1.
Victories at the Nos. 1 and 2 courts gave UCLA an early 1-0 advantage following doubles play. The Bruins' No. 1 duo of Alberto Francis / Kris Kwinta pulled off a slight upset over the higher-ranked (No. 17) Jarmaine Jenkins/Nathan Thompson, 8-3. UCLA's other doubles win came at the No. 2 spot where Tobias Clemens and Chris Lam defeated John Boetsch/Brett Twente, 8-2. Although the point had already been decided, Clemson picked up an 8-6 victory at the No. 3 position, becoming the only team to take a match from UCLA this year.
In singles action, Clemens pushed his winning streak to 19 in a row following a 6-3, 6-3 decision over Thompson at the No. 1 position. Clemens has only dropped on match this season and is now 20-1 overall.
Three other Bruins also cruised to victory, as Lam, Kwinta and Aaron Yovan all prevailed in straight sets.
The last two singles matches of the afternoon were decided by 10-point tiebreakers in place of a third set. UCLA freshman Philipp Gruendler came from behind to defeat Clement Reix, 4-6, 6-3 (10-4) at the No. 5 position. Francis capped things off with a 6-3, 5-7, (11-9) win over Goran Sterijovski at the No. 3 spot.
Next up for UCLA will be a meeting with No. 19 USC this Friday at the LATC beginning at 1:30 p.m.
