BB - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, April 8, 1996
TENNIS
' Moon leads Blue to victories.
Sophomore's heroics lift 'M' past Boilermakers, Illini
By Jiten Ghelani
Daily Sports Writer
Throughout the month of March, the
ball just wasn't bouncing the Michigan
tennis team's way. The Wolverines had
played tough competition in many of
those matches, but came up short at times
when perhaps they should have won.
They could have crumbled; they could
have called it quits.
Instead, Michigan began a new month
with new-found faith and pulled out two
close matches posting 4-3 victories over
Illinois and Purdue.
The Wolverines found ways to win in
places they hadn't looked before, maybe
because they just hadn't searched hard
enough yet.
Sophomore Sora Moon had been strug-
gling in her singles game as of late, not
experiencing the success of her freshman
year. Moon, Michigan's No. 2 singles
player, had lost her competitiveness and
was lacking confidence.
This past weekend, however, Moon
came up big down the stretch in both
matches with three-set wins.
"I was in a slump for a while," Moon
said. "I've been prayingto God fordesire.
I gave it everything. I just wanted to go
out there and win."
Moon's first clutch victory came against
Illinois. Moon and Stacey Shapiro split
the first two sets with 7-5 counts apiece.
In the third set, Moon was on the brink of
elimination when she was down 30-love
and receiving serve. At the time, Shapiro
led 4-5 in the set, and two points would
have closed out the match. Moon over-
came the deficit by breaking serve and
tied the match. Shapiro wasn't able to
hang on, and Moon took advantage, clos-
ing out her match and a Michigan win.
Against Purdue, Moon was just as
impressive. Up 3-2 in the third set, the
usually quiet Moon came into the
change-over and asked coach Bitsy Ritt
the score of the dual match. Ritt told her
the match was tied, and Moonjust shook
her head in acknowledgement of the
familiar situation. She went back out
onto the court and took care of business,
reeling off three straight games. Moon
was a 4-6,6-4,6-2, winner over Boiler-
maker Alyssa Kohl.
Moon uncharacteristically showed
emotion on the court. Moon usually
doesn't express herself much during
games, but over the weekend she was
very intense.
When all was said and done, Michigan
went out a victor, and Illinois was left in
shock.
Senior TaraGraff came up with a big
win of her own versus the Illini. Graff
faced southpaw Natalie Adsuar. Aware
that Adsuarwas left-handed, Graff'sgame
plan was to serve wide on the deuce side.
Also, Graffexploited Adsuar's weak back-
hand, going in behind every shot to the
backhand side. The strategy worked well,
and Graff led, 4-1, in the first set. Adsuar
tied up the set, 4-4, after Graff drifted
from the game plan. Graff reverted back
to her successful scheme and defeated
Adsuar, 6-4, 6-3.
Graff and Jodi Brewer helped Michi-
gan claim the doubles point against
Purdue, notching a win at third doubles.
The top doubles tandem, Moon and Sarah
Cyganiak , extended their winning streak
to six at the expense of the Boilermakers.
Cyganiak and Moon went into the week-
end ranked No. 26 in the nation.
The two won a close match, 9-7, over
Nan Smith and Amanda Scott. Cyganiak
and Moon broke at 4-5 and at 8-7. Scot
who was serving at the end of the matchW
had a strong serve, but Michigan was
able to contain it. Cyganiak and Moon
also took advantage of Scott's weak net
play.
The No. 2 doubles team, consisting of
Sibyl Smith and Tumeka Harris fell be-
hind early in its match but made a run to
get back into it. Purdue's Mary Beth
Maggart and Kohl won 8-6 when Smith
and Harris' run ended up a bit short.
Cyganiak and Harris were also notable
singles winners. Harris won in straight
sets, 6-3,6-1,overIllinois' JessicaKlapper
and then 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, over Purdue's
Cohen. Harris was down 4-1 in the third
set against Cohen, but didn't lose a game
the rest of the way.
Nurrvn KNIANAnA,/ Diy
Michigan's Sybil Smith swung her way to a straight-set victory over Illinois' Jessica Kapper. Smith also saw action at No. 2
doubles against Purdue and Illinois. The Wolverines pulled out two one-point victories over the weekend behind stellar play
from sophomore Sora Moon, who had been struggling in her singles' matches before the weekend series.
Men sweep a pair
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By Richard Shin
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's tennis team's
dominance at the Liberty Sports Com-
plex is enough to give the Wolverines'
opponents complexes of their own.
Michigan swept two matches at Lib-
erty this weekend in convincing fash-
ion, defeating Purdue, 5-2, and blank-
ing Illinois, 7-0. The wins move the
Wolverines to 4-0 at home, 5-1 in the
Big Ten and 10-7 overall.
The Wolverines opened the weekend
facing a much improved Purdue team,
coached by former Michigan assistant Tim
Madden.Tempersflaredbutdidn'tboil over
as Michigan won four ofsix singles matches
against the Boilermakers.
"We came out and, for whatever rea-
son, a lot of our players were in a real bad
mood," Michigan coach Brian Eisnersaid.
"Yes, we won the match, but we didn't
move forward.
"I was a little disappointed, and I think
that (the team) was disappointed, too."
For Michigan, Peter Pusztai defeated
Derek Myers in two sets, 6-3, 6-4, at
No. 1 singles. In the battle of the ranked
doubles teams, the Wolverine duo of
Pusztai and John Costanzo, ranked No.
24, defeated the 20th-ranked tandem of
Myers and Cris James of Purdue, 8-2.
"We've probably got two of the five
best doubles teams in the midwest,"
Eisner said. "And that's what has car-
ried us. We usually win those matches
like we did (this weekend)."
Yesterday, the Fighting Illini came to
Ann Arbor looking to stop the Wolver-
ines, who are riding atwo-match winning
streak. Illinois ended up being little more
than a speed bump, dropping the dual
match, 7-0. Eisner was happy with the
team's performance against the Illini.
"This was our best performance of
theyear," Eisnerrsaid. "It didn't seem to
make any difference what (Illinois) was
going to do; we were going to do some-
thing better.
"That's what we want to build on to
become a great team."-
Leadingthe singles sweep for Michi-
gan was Pusztai, who extended his own
winning streak to six matches. He de-
feated Jeremy Sutter in straight sets, 6-
3, 7-6 (7-4), recording a career-best
32nd victory on the season.
In the second set, Pusztai found him-
self down, 5-4, and 6-5, in the second
set but stayed on serve to force the set
into a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker,
Pusztai displayed the composure that
has allowed him to win 32 matches,
winning four straight points to clinch a
7-4 tiebreaker victory.
"I returned serve a lot better (against
Purdue)," Pusztai said. "Again, I just let
my mind wander, and I hit a few bad
shots, but I still pulled out the win."
The victory against a veteran Illinois
team boosted the confidence of the
Wolverines and their coaches, Eisner
said. The Illini entered the match at 4-1
in the Big Ten and figured to be the
toughest challenge thus far in the con-
ference for Michigan.
"This is huge win for us," Pusztai
said. "We almost lost to Illinois last
year, and they're a really good team.
"And to beat them 7-0, it really helps
our confidence. I'm sure everybody else
in the Big Ten will notice this win."
Several Michigan players bounced
back after dropping the first set. The
Wolverines' Arvid Swan, Jake Raiton
and William Farah each posted three-
set victories after a first-set scare.
"Our guys turned those matches
around and played better and better
(after dropping the first set)," Eisner
said. "I was really pleased with the
effort our players showed."
The only loss Michigan suffered yes-
terday was at No. 3 doubles, where
Raiton and Farah lost a close match to
Sutter and Oliver Freelove, 8-6. Third
doubles has been an enigmatic position
for the Wolverines, but the combina-
tion of Raiton and Farah at that position
pleased Eisner.
"No. 3 doubles been a question mark
forus," Eisnersaid. "Totry to figure out
which twosome is going to give us the
best performance there has been very
difficult. Even thoughthey lost, Raiton
and Farah played a very good match."
The victories against key opponents
come at a good time for the Wolverines,
who have seven Big Ten matches left
on the schedule. The win against Illi-
nois also provided apsychological boost
for Michigan, said Goldberg.
"The thing that stood out to me today
was the competitive spirit of the play-
ers," Goldberg said. "Everybody's per-
severance, especially in the matches
where we were down, that was the dif-
ference."
The Associated Press
LONDON - The United States is
out, the Czech Republic is in the Davis
Cup semifinals.
With Petr Korda beating American
MaliVai Washington in three sets yes-
terday in the decisive match, the Czech
Republic upset the American "third-
stringers" 3-2 and ousted the defending
champions.
The Czechs, who won their only
Davis Cup in 1980, next play Sweden
on Sept. 20-22. The Swedes completed
a 5-0 sweep of India yesterday.
In the other semifinals, Italy will play
France. The Italians defeated South
Africa 4-1 in Rome, while France beat
Germany 5-0 in Limoges.
The U.S. team, without Pete Sampras,
Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Jim
Courier, had to go with Washington
and Todd Martin in singles and Patrick
McEnroe and Patrick Galbraith in
doubles.
Yesterday, Martin tied the series 2-2
by beating Daniel Vacek 7-6 (7-1), 6-3,
6-1, before Korda overwhelmed Wash-
ington 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-2.
In Rome, South Africa's Wayne
Ferreira lost for the the third time -
twice in singles, once in doubles - as
Italy moved to the semifinals for the
first time since 1981.
Renzo Furl an, ranked 21st, beat 10th-
ranked Ferreira 3-6,6-0,7-6(7-4),k6-2,
yesterday. Andrea Gaudenzi then beat
Marcos Ondruska 6-1, 0-1, retired. .
In Limoges, Guy Forget, subbing for
Arnaud Boetsch, beat Germany's David
Prinosil 6-3,0-6,6-4, and Cedric Pioline
topped Hendrick' Dreekman 6-4, 6-3
Ailing Boris Becker played iA
Saturday's doubles, which the Germans
lost.
France clinched its semifinal berth
by winning Saturday's doubles.
"This 5-0 win gives me a lotif plea-
sure because it proves we havea solid
team," French captain Yannick 'Noah
said.
"That makes 15 matches without a
defeat."
On grass in Calcutta, the Svede*
already were 3-0 ahead before'Ncklas
Kulti beat India's Leander Pae8-,3, 6-
7 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) and Jonas Bjorkman
defeated Mahesh Bhupati 6-2.6-4.;
In zonal group matches, it was:
Croatia 5, Ukraine 0; Romania 3, Fin-
land 2; Morocco 4, Zimbabwe 1; and
Spain 4, Israel 1 in the African-Euro
Zone; and Australia 5, Japan 0 and
Thailand 5, Hong Kong 0 in the Asia-
Oceania Zone; Saudi Arabia 3 Bahrai
2 in the Oceania Zone Group II.
In the American Zone I, it was Ar-
gentina 4, Bahamas 1, and Brazil 4
Venezuela 1.
.'
, ' .
AP PHOTO
Former Michigan standout MaliVal Washington dropped his match to Peter Korda.
Sanchez-Vicano takes Family Circle for first time in 10 tries
The Associated Press
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -
Afteradecade of trying, Arantxa Sanchez
Vicario finally won the Family Circle
Cup, beating surprise finalist Barbara
Paulus, yesterday.
Sanchez Vicario won 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to
earn the $200,000 first prize in the year's
opening clay court tournament at Sea
Pines Racquet Club.
"I was coming every year, hoping to do
a little better than the year before," she
said. "Finally, the 10th time has been the
one."
Paul us made the final by topping two-
time defending champion and No. I seed
Conchita Martinez 7-6(7-2),6-4. Sanchez
Vicario defeated No. 6 Jana Novotna in
the semifinals, held Sunday because rain
washed them out a day earlier.
Sanchez Vicario started playing Hilton
Head as a 15-year-old in 1987. But even
after becoming known as an elite clay
court player, she always seemed to run
into someone hotter at the Family Circle.
Sanchez Vicario lost to eventual cham-
pion Steffi Graf in 1989 and 1993, even-
tual 1991 winner Gabriela Sabatini, and
in 1990, as a No. 2 seed, lost to Jennifer
Capriati in the American's debut tourna-
ment.
It looked like 1995 would be Sanchez
Vicario's tournament as she came in
ranked No. I in the world. But a haphaz-
ard stumble in the quarterfinals severely
sprained her right ankle and forced her
first withdrawal from a pro tournament.
"I was playing some pretty good tennis
then," she said, "but you can't worry
about that. It gave me the strength to come
back here and try to win it."
It was probably too much to expect that
Paulus, who missed 1993 and 1994 with
wrist and back injuries, could beat the
world's second- and third-best players-
who were acombined 8-1 lifetime against
her - on their favorite surface within a
three-hour span.
It did look possible, though, when
Paulus came back from her first set to
break Sanchez Vicario three times to tie
the match.
Sanchez Vicario, who whipped
Novotna in 67 minutes, had almost an
hour more rest than Paulus coming
into the finals. But instead of the pow-
erful forehands of Martinez, Sanchez
Vicario had to deal with Paulus' speed
and spin.
Paulus, a tall, thin Austriaq, continu-
ally pounded running forehands into the
deep corners. It was a strategy that wore
down Martinez, but couldn't hold up
against Sanchez Vicario, known for long
rallies and her ability to return almost any
shot.
"It was a good tactic in the second set,"
Paulus said. "But only in the second set."
U El
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario celebrates her three-set win over Barbara Paulus:
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