Individual tournaments give men’s tennis players chance to showcase skill

This weekend, members of UCLA men’s tennis continue individual tournament play as they travel north to compete in either the UCSB Classic and the Battle in the Bay Classic.

While most of the higher-ranked athletes who competed in last week’s ITA Men’s All-American Championships will take this weekend off, the competitions in Santa Barbara and San Francisco will offer the less-experienced or lower-ranked members of the team an opportunity to showcase their skill.

This is especially the case for redshirt sophomore Karue Sell, who coach Billy Martin said typically plays fewer summer tournaments than his teammates and is prone to a slower start.

“Karue never seems to be really good at the start of the season,” Martin said. “I really feel that for us to be at our best this year, he’s going to have to have a year like he did last year.”

And although the fall tournaments provide coaches a glimpse at their players’ skill before team play begins, competitions like this weekend’s serve as more than just a type of preseason for the spring.

A player who routinely does well will improve his national ranking, and the highest-ranked players will earn a place in the fall’s USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships singles and doubles tournaments and have a shot at an individual title.

So, while Martin will be watching Sell’s performance, Sell will be trying to play his way into the national title tournament.

“Knowing what kind of competitor Karue is, I think he’s thinking like he’d like to try to work his way up the lineup a little higher and promote his ranking,” Martin said. “I think we had three or four guys in the individual tournament last year … I think this year he would like to be one of those guys.”