March 5, 2009

LOS ANGELES - The No. 13 UCLA men's tennis team posted its fifth straight victory over cross-town rival No. 8 USC on Thursday, taking a 4-3 decison at the Marks Tennis Stadium. With the win, the Bruins improve to 8-4 on the year.

Bruin junior Haythem Abid enjoyed his best match of the season on Thursday, picking up a pair of huge upsets in both singles and doubles. It started in doubles, as he teamed with Nick Meister to upset fourth-ranked Robert Farah/Steve Johnson, 8-5. In singles, Abid then knocked off the nation's No. 1 player, Farah, 6-4, 6-3.

In addition to Abid, Holden Seguso and Amit Inbar were both victorious. Seguso was a 7-5, 6-0 winner over Abdullah Magdas at court No. 4, while Inbar clinched the win with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Jason McNaughton at court No. 6. With the match already decided, USC freshman Matt Kecki edged Meister 6-2, 2-6, (10-7) at court No. 5.

USC's other two points on the day came at court Nos. 2 and 3. Jaak Poldma defeated Matt Brooklyn, 6-3, 6-4 at court No. 2, and Johnson was a 6-0, 6-4 winner over Michael Look at court No. 3. It marks the first dual-match singles loss for Look on the season, as he is now 8-1.

UCLA travels to La Jolla, Calif. this weekend to take part in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships.

Doubles
1. Abid/Meister (UCLA) def. (4) Farah/Johnson (USC) - 8-5
2. Kecki/Poldma (USC) def. Brooklyn/Look (UCLA) - 9-7
3. Inbar/Harel Srugo (UCLA) def. Magdas/Daniel Nguyen (USC) - 8-4
UCLA wins doubles point -- Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles
1. (76) Haythem Abid (UCLA) def. (1) Robert Farah(USC) - 6-4, 6-3
2. (102) Jaak Poldma (USC) def. (67) Matt Brooklyn (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-4
3. (86) Steve Johnson (USC) def. (83) Michael Look (UCLA) - 6-0, 6-4
4. Holden Seguso (UCLA) def. (57) Abdullah Magdas (USC) - 7-5, 6-0
5. Matt Kecki (USC) def. (117) Nick Meister (UCLA) - 6-2, 2-6, (10-7)
6. Amit Inbar (UCLA) def. Jason McNaughton (USC) - 3-6, 6-0, 6-2*

Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 6, 2, 5