UCLA starts off strong in NCAA tournament

By Dave Denicke

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

ATHENS, Ga. ““ In the opening round of the NCAA singles
tournament, UCLA senior Jong-Min Lee and junior Jean-Noel Grinda
wanted to win, and win quickly.

“It’s good not to be struggling early,” head
coach Billy Martin said. “Coming up, they could be playing
two matches a day.”

Lee started off Wednesday with as convincing a first-round
victory as anyone in the draw, dismantling Cornell’s Mike
Halperin, 6-2, 6-1.

“I think I’m playing pretty well right now,”
Lee said. “My goal was to play my best tennis and get off the
court as soon as possible, and I think I did that today.”

Lee took advantage of Halperin’s serving woes, and broke
his serve four times in the match.

“I just played terrible. I went for too many balls and
made way too many errors,” Halperin said. “My game is
serving and volleying. If you don’t make any serves,
you’re in trouble from the start.”

Halperin cracked the door open in the second set, breaking Lee
in the opening game. But the door slammed shut with a resounding
thud, as Lee won the next six games of the set. Lee added to his
usual stellar return game with solid serving.

“My service feels pretty good. And whenever my service
feels pretty good, the rest of my game feels pretty good
too,” he said.

Several times in the match, Halperin would charge to the net,
only to have a Lee return waiting for him at his feet.

“I always feel confident in my return game,” Lee
said. “But the fact that he missed a lot of first serves
definitely helps.”

Grinda, meanwhile, took a slight detour in his 6-3, 6-3 victory
over Alabama-Birmingham’s Martin Woisetschlager. Normally
known for his serve and volley game, Grinda stayed back, grinding
out a win over the nation’s 14th-ranked player.

“I kind of played a clay-courter out there,” said
Grinda, a native of Nice, France. “The ball bounces so high
out here, it reminds me of how I used to play in Europe.”

The court conditions favored Grinda, who is playing in his third
NCAA singles tournament in Athens.

“The high bounce is good for my serve and my forehand, so
I try to take control of every point with my forehand,” he
said.

The change of style befuddled Woisetschlager. “I just
didn’t get my rhythm with the returns,” he said.
“I never really got into the match, and he was dictating the
points. I was having trouble today.”

Woisetschlager’s woes began when he lost his serve midway
through the first set.

“When he broke me, my serve didn’t work too well,
and then my return game wasn’t good,” Woisetschlager
said. “I guess I should have tried to keep the ball in play
from the baseline a little longer. Maybe that would have worked
better.”

While on paper Grinda’s victory might be considered an
upset, the junior, ranked 47th nationally, pointed out that the
rankings don’t mean much in the tournament.

“It’s just 64 guys going at it. No matter who it is,
you just have to play your hardest,” he said. “This is
the last tournament, and everyone’s giving it their best
shot.”

Both Bruins will be back on the courts tomorrow in second round
play. Lee will take on Matt Amgwerd of New Mexico, while Grinda
will face Illinois’ Jeff Laski, ranked 68th nationally.

Laski knocked off Eduardo Gordilho of Louisiana-Lafayette in
straight sets. Gordilho was ranked 15th nationally, and was one of
the 16 seeds in the tournament.

“They have two of the best in their draws by the round of
16,” said Martin, referring to potential third-round matchups
Alex Kim of Stanford for Grinda and Shuon Madden for Lee.
“These are some of the best players in the
country.”

At least both Bruin players will get plenty of rest ““ both
Grinda and Lee finished their matches before noon on Wednesday.