Men's tennis upsets 2nd-ranked Florida, 4-3

Jason Zimmerman to the rescue-the script read Saturday at the Ambler Tennis Stadium.

After suffering a disappointing loss to No. 42 Pepperdine the previous afternoon and splitting six points against No. 2 Florida (15-3), Zimmerman pulled out a tough come-from-behind victory over Tory Hahn to secure a 4-3 Duke (8-5) victory.

Zimmerman opened the decisive third set with a booming ace. The two men were on serve at 4-3 when Zimmerman, from a defensive position, zipped a down-the-line passing shot by Hahn to put himself up a break.

Finally, with the chance to serve for the match and the team victory, Zimmerman set up match point with an angled-volley winner. Then, Hahn floated a return long to give Zimmerman and the Blue Devils a much needed victory and morale boost.

"Basically I was just trying to keep my composure together," Zimmerman said. "I knew I had the crowd behind me. That's always a plus. I knew if I just keep calm and collective, I'm going to get some chances to break and come through."

While dwarfed by the importance of the decisive set, the first two didn't lack excitement. Hahn pulled out the first with a 7-4 victory in the tiebreak. To level the score, Zimmerman took the second set 6-3 as he broke Hahn in a grueling final game.

"He showed a lot of composure out there," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "He took his time and showed a lot of positive energy."

The Blue Devils came out strong on the afternoon, winning all three doubles matches to grab the important doubles point. Phillip King and Michael Yani defeated their Gator opponents in a tiebreak.

"The fact that we are winning some of these close matches is a good sign," Lapidus said. "It shows we are together and the chemistry is good on the court."

King had been struggling with a nagging ankle injury that sidelined him during singles action Friday's loss. Knowing about King's condition, the Florida coaches posted their best player, No. 4 Janne Holmia, against Duke's Yani in the second flight.

Appearing frustrated throughout, King could never gain an advantage over his fellow baseliner opponent Hamid Mirzadeh. After a tight first set, Mirzadeh controlled the second, breaking King at 2-2. King would not win another game as Mirzadeh recorded a point for the Gators with a 6-4, 6-2 win.

"It's bothering him," Lapidus said about King's ankle. "He is probably at 75 to 80 percent right now."

Yani, who was not phased by the Florida switch, battled Holmia to a 6-4, 6-4 victory. In each set, Yani broke his Gator opponent in the final game to post an impressive victory.

Walter, playing in the No. 4 flight, came out charging early as he mounted a 3-0 lead in the first set. Never dropping the break, Walter won the first set 6-3.

After falling behind 2-0 early in the second, Walter rattled off five consecutive games to put himself in position to for a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

At the No. 5 and No. 6 flights respectively, Stokke and Yorke Allen were outmatched by their Gator opponents. Matt Behrmann defeated Stokke 6-2, 6-4. Allen fell by a score of 6-2, 6-2.

Friday against Pepperdine, the Blue Devils won the doubles point but dropped four singles matches to lose 4-3. Zimmerman and Yani were the only Blue Devils to win as Lapidus was forced to move everyone up a slot to fill King's vacancy.

"We ran the [table] this weekend with highs and lows," Lapidus said following the Florida victory. "I was really surprised, after yesterday we would have been really down, the guys showed a lot of heart."