Bruins turn in mediocre play at invitational
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 1, 2001 9:00 p.m.
By Rekha Rao
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA men’s tennis team came away from the Pac-10
Individual Tournament this weekend in Ojai with a positive outlook
for the Team Tournament ahead.
In the championship singles, senior Jean-Noel Grinda and
sophomore Jean-Julian Rojer both fell in the semifinals of the
tournament.
Grinda lost 6-3, 6-2 to USC’s Ryan Moore on Saturday.
“Getting to that point was impressive. Rojer lost a
cliffhanger and had a match point serving in a tiebreaker, and he
probably should have won, but suffered some bad luck,” said
Head Coach Billy Martin.
Rojer’s match was more exciting. He played a long
three-set match, forcing two tiebreakers, but finally fell to
Stanford’s K.J. Hippensteel
6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4.
“We did pretty good, and came in and did what we wanted to
do, which is compete well. (This tournament) only helps because we
have no more dual matches to play until the NCAA Team
Tournament,” said Rojer.
In doubles action, Grinda and Rojer fell to the Cardinal team of
Alex Kim and Hippensteel, 8-5.
“Nobody had any bad performances, but nobody played
extremely well either,” Grinda said.
In the invitational singles bracket, both Travis Rettenmaier and
Derrick Nguyen fell in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-1,
respectively.
“This tournament was the last chance to up our game. If we
lose, it only hurts ourselves and really pushes us to work on our
own game,” said Grinda.
The tournament was a strain on the players because they are
forced to play up to three matches a day, both in singles and
doubles.
“These tournaments are really hard on your body because
you play multiple matches a day,” said Grinda.
Rojer, however, saw the multiple matches as a way to better the
team.
“It is good for us, it gets us in shape for the next
couple of weekends.”
But the team had a positive outlook about this past weekend and
looks forward to the upcoming weeks.
“I am going to give the guys a little break to relax and
catch up on their studies,” Martin said. “We are in
good shape physically. There isn’t much we need to work on,
just fill in the little holes that we have seen over the last few
weeks.
“We have been working nine months for the NCAA
championship.”
