The NCAA News - News and Features

May 5, 1997

Division I

UCLA determined to stay No. 1

Event: 1997 Division I Men's Tennis Championships.

Overview: A year ago, UCLA carried the nation's No. 1 ranking into the team championship only to be upended by Stanford in the final. This year, the Bruins, who serve as host of the championships, will attempt to hold that ranking through the end of the tournament. The No. 1-ranked Bruins dropped only one of their first 20 matches. Eric Taino and Alex Decret headline the Bruins' singles squad, while Kevin Kim and Eric Lin lead the doubles corps. Taino is ranked among the top 10 singles players nationally, while Kim and Lin are the nation's third-ranked doubles squad .... Two-time defending champion Stanford, Georgia, Mississippi State and Mississippi all will seek to knock off the Bruins. Stanford looks to Paul Goldstein and Ryan Wolters in its bid for a third consecutive title, while Georgia, ranked No. 2, showcases John Roddick and Eddie Jacques. Mississippi State is led by Thomas Dupre, the nation's No. 1 singles player, and Matthieu Ballay.

Field: Eight regional tournaments each will include a minimum of six and a maximum of eight teams. The eight regional winners will advance to the national championships, joining eight teams selected in advance of the regionals by the Division I subcommittee. The individual championships will include 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams. A maximum of 68 players in singles and doubles will be selected from institutions other than those competing in the team championship. Each region will nominate four singles players and two doubles teams for the individual championships.

Dates and sites: Regional tournaments will be May 9-11. The national championships will be May 17-25 at UCLA. The team championship will be May 17-20, and the singles and doubles championships will be May 21-25.

Television coverage: The championships' team final will be broadcast tape-delayed by ESPN at 1 p.m. (Eastern time) May 22 and by ESPN2 at 3:30 a.m. (Eastern time) June 14.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1529 for dates and sites, 1530 for bracket/schedule, 5219 for qualifiers, 5220 through 5223 for team results, and 5224 through 5228 for individual results. Regional and championships results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championships results will be published in the May 19 (regional tournaments) and June 2 (finals) issues of The NCAA News.