USC’s Mamiit, Peterson in Semifinals; Phebus Loses

Fourth-seeded Cecil Mamiit of USC won two matches Friday and became the only seeded player to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Division I Tennis Championships at Athens, Ga.

Teammate Adam Peterson also reached today’s semifinals.

Mamiit, a freshman from Pasadena, defeated Srdjan Muskatirovic of UCLA, 6-3, 6-3, in the round of 16 and Jan Hermansson of South Alabama, 6-1, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.

Peterson, ranked 97th nationally, reached the semifinals for the second consecutive year. He withstood a 3 1/2-hour match against Georgia’s John Roddick, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), before beating Simon Aspelin of Pepperdine, 6-4, 6-2.

In doubles, UCLA’s top-seeded Justin Gimelstob and Muskatirovic eliminated Georgia’s Steven Baldas and Jamie Laschinger, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

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Defending champion Keri Phebus of UCLA was upset by Stanford’s Ania Bleszynski in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Division I Tennis Championships, and later was taken to a Tallahassee, Fla., hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion.

In temperatures in the mid-90s, Bleszynski won, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, in a match that lasted 3 hours and 26 minutes.

Phebus, trying to become the first woman to win successive NCAA titles in singles and doubles, received intravenous treatment at the match and was taken to Tallahassee Memorial hospital, where she was in stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Sixth-seeded Bleszynski, from Thousand Oaks, plays Florida’s fourth-seeded Jill Craybas in today’s semifinals.