UCLA’s Taino Finds His Game in Time
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Third-seeded Eric Taino of UCLA lost the 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 Los Angeles Tennis Center on Wednesday.
Taino said 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.”
Other Southland players who advanced were Kevin Kim of UCLA, George Bastl of USC and Simon Aspelin of Pepperdine.
Matt Breen and 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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