UCLA’s Taino Finds His Game in Time
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Third-seeded Eric Taino of UCLA lost his first set to South Alabama’s John James, but bounced back to win, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round of the NCAA men’s individual tennis championships at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Wednesday.
Taino said that his early problems came from complacency.
“I was waiting for him to give me points, but in the second and third sets I was more aggressive,” Taino said. “To lose without intensity is the worst thing you can do.”
The fourth- and fifth-seeded players, Mike Russell of Miami and Johan Hede of Mississippi, were not as fortunate as Taino. Simon Larose of Mississippi State defeated Russell, 6-7 (11-9), 6-4, 6-3, and Gavin Sontag of Illinois upset Hede, 6-3, 6-4.
Other Southland players who advanced were Matt Breen and Kevin Kim of UCLA, George Bastl of USC and Simon Aspelin of Pepperdine. Alex Decret of UCLA and Patrick Gottesleben of USC lost.
Top-seeded Thomas Dupre of Mississippi State won his match, 7-6, 6-3, over Benjamin Cassaigne of Georgia Tech. Bob Bryan, who helped Stanford win its third consecutive team title the previous night, routed Christian Jaeger of Texas Arlington, 6-0, 6-0.
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