Kogan Wins Again, Advances to National Semifinals

Wednesday, May 26

Tulsa, Okla.

TBA

Tulane University

NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships

Tulane's Michael Kogan will play in the NCAA Semifinals on Sunday afternoon. He has advanced further than any Tulane player since 1955. [File photo by Ned Dishman]

Kogan Wins Again, Advances to National Semifinals

May 29, 2004 | Men's Tennis

May 29, 2004

TULSA, Okla. - In a tournament full of upsets, Tulane's Michael Kogan added his name to the list of players knocking off higher-ranked players with a three-set victory over Duke's Philip King on Saturday afternoon to advance to the semifinals of the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa.

King, ranked No. 5 in the nation, was the highest remaining seed (fifth) in the tournament, while Kogan, the 11th-ranked player in the country is a 9-16 seed.

"I didn't feel well," Kogan said. "But I kept hustling and battled through it."

"He fought threw adversity, he wasn't feeling well in the second set, his stomach was bothering him and he was feeling weak," Tulane assistant coach Michael Lang said. "But it is just like him that he just fought through it. He had lost the second set, but he fought real hard and got back in it."

Kogan, who reached the quarterfinals as a freshman, advances to play South Alabama's Franticek Babej (ranked 33rd in the country) at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The other semifinal match pits Baylor's Benjamin Becker (#15) against Gabor Zoltan Pelva (#20) from Auburn. The Championship match will be played on Monday.

This is the furthest a Tulane player has advanced at the National Championships since 1955 when Jose Aguero won the NCAA Singles Championship. Tulane has had five NCAA Singles Champions: Cliff Sutter (1930, 1932), Ernest Sutter (1936, 1937), Jack Tuero (1949), Ham Richardson (1953, 1954) and Aguero.

"It's a good feeling [to make it this far]," Kogan said. "To win four matches at nationals is very good. I take it match-by-match. I just hope I can keep winning."

The four-time Player of the Year in Conference USA and Tulane's all-time leader in victories, Kogan opened Saturday's match with a 7-5 first-set victory, but King rebounded to even the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. In the third set, Kogan took charge, winning 6-2.

"I tried to be more aggressive in the third, tried to shorten the points a little bit," Kogan said. "I tried to go to the net more; and I guess it worked."

"He played well when he had to," Tulane head coach Robert Klein said. "The wind was horrible; this was a great lesson for a young tennis player who doesn't like to practice in wind, because when it comes down to it in a big match, you may face those conditions. And Michael was ready. There were mistakes made today by both players that normally are not made.

"Coach Lang did a great job after that second set," Klein continued. "Michael was feeling bad and sick and [Lang] told him that no matter what he was feeling then, it couldn't have been worse than three years in the military."

Kogan served three years in the Israeli military after high school prior to coming to Tulane.

The Wave senior has now won 15 of his last 16 matches and owns a 25-6 singles record this year with 20 wins over ranked opponents. This is his third year earning Singles All-America honors, while he picked up Doubles All-America recognition twice.

Kogan's wins in this year's tournament have come over Cal's Balasz Veress (#71), Antonio Ruiz (#49) from Texas, Pepperdine's Pedro Rico (#20) and now King. He beat Veress and Rico in straight sets.

Babej has knocked off No. 2 seed Benedikt Dorsch (#2) from Baylor, Phil Stolt (#51) from Illinois, Bo Hodge (#14) from Georgia and Nicolas Monroe (#29) from North Carolina. He dropped the first set against Dorsch, but won the other three matches in straight sets.