UCLA seeks easy win in Portland
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 12, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 PATIL ARMENIAN/ Daily Bruin Senior Staff Freshman
Tobias Clemens hits a forehand in an earlier match
this season. MEN’S TENNIS vs. University of
Portland Today 1 p.m. Portland, OR CONNIE WU/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff Web adaptation by TODD SHINTANI
By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Contributor
Today the No. 3 UCLA men’s tennis team visits Portland to
take on unranked University of Portland. The match features a
superior UCLA team who is expected to cruise to an easy victory
against a sub-par Portland squad.
UCLA is using this match as a tune-up for this weekend’s
USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle. Today’s
match will be played indoors, giving the team a perfect opportunity
to get some light indoor practice before the Championships begin on
Thursday.
“I’m not looking for (Portland) to be a great
team,” UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. “They were
nice enough to invite us up to play so we can get some indoor
practice.”
For the Bruins, Jean-Noel Grinda will be playing at first
singles, as Jean-Julien Rojer, the regular first singles player, is
still in Costa Rica playing in the Davis Cup. Grinda is ranked No.
33 in the nation in singles.
He will face sophomore Peter Malacek, a rising star for
Portland. Head coach Aaron Gross likes Malacek’s consistency
and shot repertoire.
“He’s got a big forehand and a solid baseline
game,” Gross said.
Despite Malacek’s talent, Gross knows that his team will
be outmatched when it meets UCLA tomorrow afternoon.
“We’re at different levels,” Gross said.
When asked about whether his team has an advantage playing at
home, Gross responded pessimistically.
“We don’t have an advantage anywhere we look,”
he said.
Gross invited UCLA to Portland to play in order to give his
young players a chance to see what top programs are like, and to
see where his program is at. Eventually, he would like to see his
program break into the top 50 in the nation.
“It’s a good opportunity to see that level first
hand,” he said. “We are just fighting for some
respect.”
Respect is also what the Bruins are after, as they will have a
tough February schedule after today’s match. In addition to
the Indoor Championships, they have matches against USC and UNLV
coming up this month.
