Bruins sail past Green Wave in a breeze

Monday, January 25, 1999

Bruins sail past Green Wave in a breeze

MTENNIS: UCLA strong, consistent in matches against Tulane;
players prepare for tough competition from Arizona State

By Dave Denicke

Daily Bruin Contributor

Going into Friday’s match, UCLA didn’t know much about their
opponent. But it didn’t take long for the Bruins to figure out
Tulane as they swept the Green Wave 7-0.

Overall, UCLA slammed Tulane. In the singles, no Bruin dropped a
set, stretching their string to 12 singles matches without dropping
a set.

"Singles-wise, I was very happy. Doubles is still where we
really need to improve. If we can get our doubles going, I feel
really confident about our play," said Coach Billy Martin.

Zach Fleishman, however, had a dramatic win over Dennis
Lundberg. Having won the first set 6-4 behind a flurry of passing
shots, Fleishman had a tougher time in the second set tie
break.

At a tight point in the match, Fleishman charged the net and
lunged for Lundberg’s passing shot. Rolling on the ground like
Boris Becker at Wimbledon, Fleishman won the point but came down
hard on his right wrist.

"I actually think that was the turning point in the match. I was
behind in the tie break and it got the crowd into the match," said
Fleishman.

And Fleishman should be getting used to crowds. The freshman
appeared in Sports Illustrated’s Jan. 25 "Faces in the Crowd" for
his accomplishments on the junior circuit. "Hopefully (the team)
won’t get their hands on it. I might not hear the end of it,"
Fleishman said.

Senior Jason Cook pulled double duty, first teaming up with
Brandon Kramer to win the No.2 doubles slot 8-4 and then defeating
Ronald Kloppert 6-2, 7-5 in singles. Cook started slowly in the
second set, dropping the first three games. "Mentally, I lost it. I
was happy I came back and regrouped but I was a bit loony birds out
there," Cook said.

Jong-Min Lee, however, took the less dramatic route, blanking
his opponent 6-0, 6-0. Lee said, "My goal was to play well through
the whole match and to not let up. I think I did that well
today."

Jean-Noel Grinda teamed up with Lee to win the top doubles slot
and also won his singles match, 7-6, 6-3. "I played pretty well in
the tie break of the first set," Grinda said. "That was the turning
point of the match. I think we need not to rest on our laurels of
these early matches. We have an extremely tough match next week at
Arizona State. ASU I think could be one of the top 10 teams in the
country."

In anticipation of the Arizona matches, Martin said he will
probably rest some players against Irvine on Wednesday. "We’ve got
three or four good players that aren’t playing matches right now. I
need to keep them sharp in case of injuries also."

Regarding Irvine, Cook said, "To be blunt, they’re not very
good."DANIELA DECCA

Sophomore Jean-Noel Grinda won his single match as well as the
double match he played with Jong-Min Lee on Friday against
Tulane.

Comments, feedback, problems?

© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]