Undefeated m. tennis heads to indoor tourney



February 20, 1996

Undefeated m. tennis heads to indoor tourney

By Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Contributor

As midterm-riddled college students know, there truly is no rest
for the weary. The UCLA men’s tennis team got that same lesson this
weekend as it played dual matches on back-to-back days, just a few
days before the four-day ITCA Team Indoors, starting Thursday in
Louisville.

The Team Indoors is the first major collegiate team event of the
season and is second in prestige only to the NCAA championship. The
second-ranked Bruins will be part of a 16-team draw featuring the
best in the nation, including top-ranked Stanford and No. 3
Georgia. Needless to say, this is a tournament that the undefeated
Bruins have been licking their chops for.

"We’re all looking forward to it," UCLA head coach Billy Martin
said. "This is why we’re here (at UCLA). We’re here to win these
big tournaments, this and the NCAAs. We’re eager as a team."

The tournament is played in a dual-match format exactly like a
regular-season contest. Three doubles matches for one point are
followed by six singles matches in a best-of-seven points battle.
There is only one thing different at this tournament. The
surface.

The courts in Louisville are probably the fastest that the team
will play on all season. The increased pace means that the Bruins
will have to adapt their style of play accordingly. The quick
surface calls for serve and volley tennis, replete with huge serves
and short points. This factor shouldn’t be too big a problem for
UCLA, as its lineup boasts a number of big servers, like Srdjan
Muskatirovic and Jason Thompson and outstanding net players, namely
Justin Gimelstob and Heath Montgomery. Nevertheless, the team
expects an adjustment period.

"It’s so fast, serve and volley and that mentality – you have to
get used to it," Martin said. "Getting aced and getting break
points. It’s the same for everybody."

Muskatirovic echoed the same sentiments.

"It’s going to be a different kind of game, very short points
which means you have to be very focused."

In its first round match, UCLA will battle Harvard University,
not exactly a hothouse of tennis prowess, but with the quick
courts, which can be a tremendous equalizer, the team knows that
anything is possible.

"(Harvard) is one team we should be able to get through although
that first round always scares me because it’s sort of a shock,"
Martin said.

Looming in the second round is a rematch with Pepperdine
University and on the other side of the draw is Stanford, the only
team ranked ahead of the Bruins nationally. Although the tournament
has little bearing on the remainder of the season for UCLA – aside
from its ranking – playing against such sterling competition is
what the Bruins need to prepare themselves for a title run.

"It’s good to see the other teams, how good they are," Martin
said. "Even if you win the tourney, it’s nothing like the NCAAs so
you don’t want to take too much credence in that."

* * *

The Arizona schools were in town over the weekend, with the
Arizona State Sun Devils meeting the Bruins on Friday and the
University of Arizona coming on Saturday. UCLA took them both by
5-2 scores to run its season record to a perfect 8-0 and give
itself a good warmup for the Indoors.

"We needed these matches to get us going for Louisville," Martin
said. "We’ve got to be happy as a team to get these under our belt
because this is what we wanted going into Louisville."

Pacing the Bruins to victory was No. 1 player Justin Gimelstob,
who returned from the Sybase Open in San Jose to win both of his
singles matches in decisive fashion.

"It was a little tougher but I was really tired," Gimelstob
said. "I felt like I would let the team down putting my personal
tournaments in front of the team."

No. 2 Srdjan Muskatirovic also posted two victories after
rebounding from a slow start in each of his singles matches.

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© 1996 ASUCLA Communications Board

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