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The heat is on in Arizona as m. tennis treks to dual match

By Daily Bruin Staff

March 7, 1996 9:00 p.m.

The heat is on in Arizona as m. tennis treks to dual match

By Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Staff

The tennis gods have grown angry with the UCLA men’s tennis team
and have decided to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the
No. 1 Bruins, who travel this weekend to face Arizona and Arizona
State. This marks the first time this season they will leave the
friendly confines of the Los Angeles Tennis Center to play a dual
match.

The road presents a stiff challenge to the Bruins, for Arizona
and Arizona State offer not only a hostile crowd, but a higher
altitude as well, compounding the challenge for the Bruins and
making this match an interesting test as they head into the last
part of the season.

"It’s a big difference," UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. "The
guys have to show me that they can handle adversity. We’re finding
out if they can focus on a match knowing they don’t have the crowd
behind them."

Not only do the Bruins have to tackle the Wildcats in Tucson,
they will have to do so without the services of No. 1 singles
player Justin Gimelstob, who will be just a few miles up the road
in Scottsdale at a professional tournament.

Gimelstob, who had planned to meet up with the team in Arizona,
advanced to the quarterfinal by virtue of his upset win over the
tournament’s eighth seed, Jonas Bjorkman, and will play his next
match today against top-seed Wayne Ferreria. His absence means
that, once again, the rest of the team will have to move up one
position.

"Certainly, when a team knows that Justin isn’t there, that
pumps them up," Martin said.

Friday’s match pits UCLA (13-0) against the Wildcats (6-3), who
come in ranked 24th in the nation and smarting from a 5-2 pasting
they received earlier this season.

The singles lineup for Arizona is the key to their success, as
their doubles play has done little to impress this season.

"We’ve got to win the doubles because that is not their
strength," Martin said. "We’re going to need a great show from
Srdjan Muskatirovic and Eric Taino and hope that one or two of the
other guys can come up with a victory."

Saturday’s opponent in Tempe is the 33rd-ranked Sun Devils
(5-2), who pose a lesser threat, as the Bruins showed in a
dismantling of ASU earlier in the year.

"This is a weaker year for (the Sun Devils)," Martin said.
"They’re good but they’re not great in singles. We just want to get
through the first match (against Arizona)."Comments to
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