COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Defending champion Matias Boeker of Georgia won his opening-round match in the NCAA men's tennis championships Wednesday, earning a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Yale's Steve Berke.

After being tied at 2-2 in the first set, Boeker won four straight points to win the first set 6-2. Berke again tied it up at 2-2 in the second set, but Boeker broke Berke's serve for the 6-2 win.

Last year, Boeker led the Bulldogs to the team title before capturing the singles championship and the doubles championship.

Top-seeded Georgia failed to repeat as national champions, dropping a 4-1 decision to Southern Cal. Boeker scored Georgia's only point in that match, defeating Andrew Park 6-1, 7-5.

In other singles action, Texas A&M's Ryan Newport beat Tennessee's Peter Handoyo 6-1, 6-2, and Stanford's Ryan Haviland defeated Mississippi State's Romain Ambert 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.