May 26, 1999

ATHENS, Ga. - UNLV standout Asaf Tishler found himself in the path of a bulldozer - top-seed James Blake of Harvard -- and was eliminated from the 1999 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex Wednesday by the score of 6-2, 6-3.

Playing on center court after a short rain delay, Tishler used his slow-paced game to frustrate Blake early.

However, Blake, who has been the nation's No. 1-ranked player since December, used a blistering serve to finish off the 33rd-ranked Tishler, a senior who failed to earn a NCAA victory in his two career trips.

The two sets were nearly identical. The players held serve both times to make it 2-2 before Blake would take over and quickly close it out. The Harvard star won 10 of the last 13 games in the match while improving his overall singles record to 37-3.

"Blake is a great player, no doubt about it," UNLV Head Coach Larry Easley said. "You can't give an opponent like that any points and Asaf gave some away. It's easy to get down when you're playing someone who hits such a hard ball.

"Asaf had a great career at UNLV. It's just too bad he didn't get a better draw because he really could have done some good things here. Unfortunately, he had to play the best player right out of the gate."

Tishler finished the season at 20-9 and completed his career at 85-36. The native of Tel Aviv, Israel, leaves UNLV seventh in career singles victories and fifth in all-time doubles wins with 81.

The Rebels' doubles entry, unseeded Nenad Zivkovic and Gregor Skorin, will play its first-round match Thursday vs. third-seeded Jean-Noel Grinda and Jong Min-Lee of UCLA.