No. 3 Duke Falls At No. 9 UCLA 6-1 on Wednesday

Wednesday, March 15

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:30 p.m.

Duke University

UCLA

No. 6 Duke Battles No. 12 North Carolina for Carlyle Cup Point on Wednesday

No. 3 Duke Falls At No. 9 UCLA 6-1 on Wednesday

3/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

Los Angeles, Calif. - No. 9 UCLA handed No. 3 Duke their third loss of the season by winning the doubles point and five of the six singles matches for a 6-1 victory at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Wednesday.

The lone win for the Blue Devils came at the No. 3 singles position as Peter Rodrigues claimed a three-set victory over No. 74 Mathieu Dehaine. Rodrigues won the first set 6-3 and after losing a tiebreaker in the second set, 7-6 (4) came away with a 1-0 (10-8) victory in the third as the match ended. He is now 8-1 when playing at No. 3 and 10-1 in dual matches. The win gives him 16 for the season to go with seven losses.

UCLA started the match with wins in two of the three doubles matches to earn the first point and gain the upperhand. The Bruins eighth ranked team of Philipp Gruendler and Benjamin Kohlloeffel led the way with a victory in the No. 1 position over Duke's 22nd-ranked Joey Atas and Jonathan Stokke, 8-5. The Bruins' Haythem Abid and Chris Surapol also won in doubles at No. 2 against Stephen Amritraj and Rodrigues. Duke received a win in the third spot from Ned Samuelson and Ludovic Walter as they defeated Dehaine and Aaron Yovan, 8-6, but it wasn't enough as UCLA took the doubles point.
The Bruins carried their momentum into singles with five wins in the six matches. They started with two quick wins in straight sets. Gruendler defeated Atas in the No. 4 match, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 78 Chris Surapol took care of No. 98 Kiril Dimitrov at No. 5, 6-4, 6-0. The two wins gave them a 3-0 lead in the match and control of the match.

Kohlloeffel and Abid both won the first set in their matches at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively to put the heat on the Blue Devils. Kohlloeffel, ranked second in the country, was facing Walter, the fourth ranked player, and was able to win in a tiebreaker to close out the straight set win 6-3, 7-6 (3), clinching the match for UCLA. The loss was only the second of the dual match season for Walter as he falls to 9-2 and 19-6 overall. His only other loss came in a 6-1 setback to No. 3 Illinois. This was the second time this season he faced Kohlloeffel. They squared off in the chamionship match at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships on Nov. 6 with Kohlloeffel coming out on top 7-5, 6-1.

Abid's match would go into three sets as Stokke, ranked No. 28, came back from a 6-4 loss to take the second set 6-3. However, Abid went on to win the third set 6-2 for the victory. In the No. 6 singles match, Duke's Samuelson won the first set 6-4 but could not hold on as Michael Look won in a tiebreaker 7-6 (3) in the second set and won 1-0 (10-5) in the third for the comeback win.

With the loss, the Blue Devils fall to 9-3 on the season while UCLA improves to 10-4. All three of Duke's defeats have come to teams ranked in the top-10. They suffered a 6-1 setback at home to No. 3 Illinois on Feb. 3 and fell 4-1 to No. 4 Pepperdine in the semifinals of the National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 19.

Duke will have 10 days off before they return to the courts. They will play their first home match since Feb. 12 when they host Georgia Tech in an ACC contest Saturday, March 25 at 1 p.m. They will then turn around and face Clemson at 1 p.m. the next day.

Doubles

Pos.	Opponents	Score
1.	(8) Gruendler/Kohlloeffel (UCLA) def. (22) Atas/Stokke (Duke)	8-5
2.	Abid/Surapol (UCLA) def. Stephen Amritraj/Rodrigues (Duke)	8-5
3.	Samuelson/Walter (Duke) def. Dehaine/Aaron Yovan (UCLA)	8-6
*UCLA Wins Doubles Point*

Singles

Pos.	Opponents	Score
1.	(2) Benjamin Kohlloeffel (UCLA) def. (4) Ludovic Walter (Duke)	6-3, 7-6(3)*
2.	Haythem Abid (UCLA) def. (28) Jonathan Stokke (Duke)	6-4, 3-6, 6-2
3.	(56) Peter Rodrigues (Duke) def. (74) Mathieu Dehaine (UCLA)	3-6, 7-6(4), (10-8)
4.	Philipp Gruendler (UCLA) def. Joey Atas (Duke)	6-2, 6-3
5.	(78) Chris Surapol (UCLA) def. Kiril Dimitrov (Duke)	6-4, 6-0
6.	Michael Look (UCLA) def. Ned Samuelson (Duke)	4-6, 7-6(3), (10-5)
* Denotes Clinching Match -- Singles Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 6, 3, 2