Marcos Giron clinched UCLA's 4-0 victory with a 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
ATHENS, Ga. -- Sixth-seeded UCLA posted its third consecutive shutout of the NCAA tournament on Friday evening at Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex, downing unseeded Tennessee 4-0 in the Round of 16. The Bruins (25-3) now move on to Sunday's quarterfinals where they will meet the winner of Friday's late match featuring third-seeded Ohio State and 14th-seeded Florida. That match will be at 4 p.m. ET on Georgia's McWhorter Courts.
Friday marked the 10th time in as many matches that the Bruins were able to claim the doubles point. A quick 8-3 win by Joseph Di Giulio and Clay Thompson at court No. 3 gave the Bruins an early edge, however Tennessee owned a commanding lead at court No. 1. It was evident early on that the point would likely be decided at court No. 2, where UCLA's Adrien Puget and Karue Sell were in a tight battle with Tennessee's Jarryd Chaplin and Andrew Dromsky. Puget and Sell owned a 6-3 lead until the Volunteers mounted a comback to even the match. It would eventually go to a tiebreaker, where Puget and Sell got an early lead and never looked back, taking an 8-7(3) victory to clinch the point for UCLA.
| DI MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP |
|---|
| Singles, doubles finals recap |
| Singles: UCLA's Giron wins singles title |
| All Cal match-up for singles title, doubles final set |
| Singles: FIrst semifinalist for Texas in 21 years |
| Singles: USF's Cid continues run through Day 2 |
| Singles: Athens becomes upset city on first day |
| Championship recap Gallery |
| Final: USC wins program's 21st, school's 100th title |
| Semis: Oklahoma extends run to first title match |
| Semis: Southern Cal wins clash with Virginia |
| Quarters: UCLA ousts Ohio St. for third time in four years |
| Quarters: Oklahoma reaches program's first semifinal |
| Quarters: Southern Cal. bounces back to beat Texas |
| Quarters: Virginia advances to semifinals with 4-0 win |
| Round of 16: Ohio St. survives Fla. | UCLA gets by Tenn. |
| Round of 16: Okla. heads to quarters | UNC outlasts UGa. |
| Round of 16: Baylor sweeps Illini | Cavs beat Irish again |
| Round of 16: USC halts Columbia | Texas gets by Cal |
| Brackets: Interactive Printable |
| Individual Draws: Singles | Doubles |
 Live Scoring |
Although doubles was close, UCLA really took control of the match in singles, taking first sets at all six courts. Freshman Gage Brymer was first off at court No. 4, as his 6-2, 6-2 win against Tennessee junior Brandon Fickey gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
"Gage was just rock solid for us [Friday]," Martin said. "For this to be his first NCAA tournament and to turn in a performance like that is just outstanding. I kept looking over there and I don't think I saw him lose a point. I'm just really proud of the way he played [Friday]."
Not long after Brymer's win, another straight-set victory would follow for UCLA at court No. 5, where senior Adrien Puget downed Dromsky 6-4, 6-2. Puget, who had been sidelined nearly the entire season while recovering from knee surgery, is now 3-0 in his return to the singles lineup.
Junior Marcos Giron, the nation's second-ranked singles player, notched the clinching win for the Bruins at court No. 2, downing Mikelis Libietis 6-3, 6-3. Giron's win put UCLA into the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
"I think we are all really pumped to be here," Giron said after the match. "We've all been training really hard during the season up to this point and I think we've done a good job of tapering off and being fresh and making sure we've taken care of business up until now. I think our hard work and our spirit are showing. We've been playing well and I think if we continue to play well, we'll go far."
