May 27, 2000
ATHENS, Ga. — Carlos Drada continued his improbable run through the field at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championships on Saturday as the unseeded University of Kentucky senior won his semifinal match over Florida’s Jeff Morrison in straight sets. Drada will now play for the NCAA singles title on Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Drada (29-20) became the first UK tennis player ever to advance to the NCAA championship match by beating Morrison in a quick but hard-fought match, 6-2, 6-4. Morrison (40-5) is the defending NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Champion and was the top seed in this year’s draw as a result of his current No. 1 national ranking. Of Morrison’s five losses this season, Drada, currently ranked 31st in the nation, owns two of them after also beating Morrison in straight sets (7-5, 7-5) on March 26.
“I’m really gratefull to be here,” the native of Colombia said. “Yesterday I knew I was going to have to come here and play really well. He (Morrison) is a great competitor, but I was just trying to keep myself together and play well. I wasn’t thinking about him. “
UK Coach Dennis Emery added, “Carlos always plays big matches really well.”.
With his match beginning under the intense afternoon sun at 12:30 p.m. EDT, Drada matched the heat with his play, taking a 3-0 lead in the first set. Morrison got within 4-2, but Drada took the next two games to take the first set, 6-2.
Morrison broke Drada’s serve to start the second set. Drada’s lost serve started a trend as the next two services were broken before Morrison held serve to take a 3-1 lead. The two stayed on serve for the next three points as Morrison took a 4-3 lead, but Drada turned the tide of the match by breaking Morrison again to even the match at 4-4. After Drada held serve to put Morrison’s back to the wall at 5-4, Morrison served up a 40-love lead in an attempt to even the set at 5-5. But in typical fashion, Drada roared back to take five consecutive points and break Morrison for the third time in the set, winning the match as a backhand shot by Morrison was rifled into the net.
“Carlos played a great match,” Morrison said. “His serve is hard, he mixes up the pace well and his passing shots are great. He made me play a lot of balls. He totally deserves to be in the final tomorrow.”
Drada’s win marks the first time an unseeded player has advanced to the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship match since UNLV’s Luke Smith won the title in 1997. Drada also is the first unseeded player to upset a No. 1 seed since 1996 when Phil Cooper of Wichita State beat top-seeded Justin Gimmelstab of UCLA.
In the other semifinal match, preceding Drada’s match, No. 5 seed Alex Kim of Stanford out-lasted teammate K.J. Hippensteel in three sets, winning 6-2, 6-7 (7-1), 6-2. Kim, ranked No. 7 in the nation, will now meet Drada in Sunday’s Championship Match set for 1 p.m. EDT.
Drada had already knocked off three of the top 15 ranked players in the nation, two of which were ranked in the top five, on his way to the championship match. His other two victims were ranked in the top 50. Drada is now 12-12 against top 50 opponents this season.
“I’m a real hard worker and sometimes I work too hard in school,” Drada said, accounting for his inconsistent season. “It is really hard to keep that balance and so I think that took a little away from my tennis during the season.”
