Bruins poised for big season

 

By Gilbert Quiñonez
Daily Bruin Contributor

Every team expects to improve from one season to the next. Most
teams, however, don’t finish 23-3 with a No. 3 national
ranking, like the UCLA men’s tennis team.

“We’re definitely going to lose less than last
year,” sophomore Tobias Clemens said.

The Bruins dominated during the season last year, and were even
ranked No. 1 for a week. The team’s two regular season losses
were both against No. 2 Stanford, which they also beat once. The
team, however, fell short of their ultimate goal when they were
upset by Southern Methodist in the NCAA quarterfinals.

The team bounced back from that disappointing loss with a strong
preseason.

In the Southern California Intercollegiate Championships, UCLA
players swept both the singles and doubles titles. Clemens won the
singles tournament by beating USC’s Andrew Park, and Clemens,
along with junior Lassi Ketola, won the doubles tournament.

Even more impressive is that Clemens and Ketola were technically
not even UCLA’s best players at the time. Sophomore Marcin
Matkowski and junior Jean-Julien Rojer had just helped UCLA win
both the singles and doubles tournaments at the Intercollegiate
Tennis Association Regionals, and were competing in the ITA
Nationals at the time of Clemens and Ketola’s triumphs.

At the ITA Regionals, a tournament in which the best players
from the West competed, Matkowski won the singles tournament, and
Matkowski along with Rojer won the doubles tournament. Matkowski
and Rojer are currently ranked as the best doubles team in the
country.

“Matkowski and Rojer did great. I’m not surprised
(at their current No. 1 national ranking),” UCLA head coach
Billy Martin said.

“They beat a great No. 1 team from USC.”

This season, the team won their first game easily, beating UC
Santa Barbara 6-1 a week ago.

The team as a whole has earned a preseason No. 3 ranking by the
ITA and looks to be a very serious contender for the NCAA
championship. Georgia is a clear No. 1, but as Martin remarked,
“We could have been anywhere from 2-5.” Stanford is
ranked No. 2, while Tennessee and Mississippi round out the top
5.

The singles starting lineup consists of (in order of No. 1 thru
6): Rojer, Clemens, Matkowski, Rodrigo Grilli, team captain Erfan
Djahangiri and Ketola. The doubles lineup includes Matkowski/Rojer,
Clemens/Ketola, and Grilli/Djahangiri.

Grilli, a transfer student from the College of the Desert, is a
newcomer to the UCLA squad. He won two California state doubles
championships while at the College of the Desert, and has made
great strides so far this season. He won his first match against
UCSB and won the National Collegiate Cup over the weekend.

“I’m really lucky to be here, and playing with these
guys,” Grilli said. “I like playing around a lot of
support here.”

The Pac-10 as a whole will be tough this season, with No. 11 Cal
and No. 12 USC joining the aforementioned Cardinal and Bruins.

This will only add to the drama for the Bruins in their quest
for the national championship.

“If we work hard, stay positive, and hang together, I
don’t think it’s unreasonable that we can win our
ultimate goal,” Martin said. “The future is very
bright.”