UCI Tennis Pair Have Upsetting Day, but at Least Their Win Was No Accident

As far as Darren Yates and Julian Barham were concerned, merely getting to their tennis match Friday was the real victory.

Yates and Barham, the No. 1 doubles team for UC Irvine, were involved in a minor car accident when their car was sideswiped on an icy road driving to play in the National Indoor Championships in Richmond, Va. No one was hurt, and they reached the tournament site on time. Barely.

The added bonus came when Yates and Barham upset Kentucky’s Greg Van Emburgh and Rick Benson, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1, in a quarterfinal match. Although Van Emburgh and Benson are ranked fifth in the nation, Yates and Barham had defeated them earlier this month in a invitational at Minneapolis.

In today’s semifinals, Yates and Barham will play top-ranked Charles Beckman and Royce Deppe of Texas. Beckman and Deppe are the defending champions.