NCAA TENNIS : USC’s Black Is Upset by Florida’s Merklein in Final

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Mark Merklein of Florida defeated top-seeded Wayne Black of USC, 6-2, 6-7 (10-8), 6-4, in the NCAA men’s Division I singles final on Sunday.

Black was a loser in the doubles final as well, as Mississippi State’s Joc Simmons and Laurent Miquelard scored a 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3 victory over the third-seed- ed USC team of Black and Jon Leach.

Merklein is the first Florida player to gain a berth in the NCAA singles final.

After dropping the second set, Merklein made a third-set service break stand up.

“I didn’t capitalize on some mistakes and I made a few stupid errors,” Black said. “I didn’t attack enough. It was pretty windy and that made me tentative and nervous.”

Merklein broke Black’s serve to tie the second set at 4-4, but Black broke back to force a tiebreaker.

Ahead by 6-5 in the tiebreaker, Merklein let a match point get away when he put a return of Black’s volley into the net. Another unforced error gave Black the set.

“I couldn’t believe he came back,” said Merklein, who dominated play in the first set. “I got really nervous and I didn’t want to hit the ball on my match point.”

Merklein, whose NCAA title gives him an invitation to the U.S. Open, finished the season with a 38-6 record in singles and 112 singles victories for his career, the most in Florida history.

Black finished the season with a 32-5 record.