Grilli debuts with win in Las Vegas tourney

By Jessica Bach
Daily Bruin Contributor

In his first tournament as a Bruin, junior Rodrigo Grilli proved
he could handle his own by capturing the men’s singles title
at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic, in Las Vegas this
weekend. The unranked Grilli upset Stanford’s No. 49 David
Martin 6-4, 7-5 in Sunday’s final.

“Rodrigo’s win was incredible because it established
him as a top player at the collegiate level,” head coach
Billy Martin said. “Being the new kid on the block, Rodrigo
showed he could stand his own.”

Grilli just began his first season as a member of the
men’s tennis team after transferring from the College of the
Desert, where he was for the past two years.

“I was more excited than nervous when I started the
competition,” Grilli said. “But I did get more and more
comfortable as I got past my first few matches.”

While Grilli and half of the team competed in Las Vegas, he
wasn’t the only Bruin to win a singles event. Senior Tobias
Clemens won at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Thousand Oaks, where
the rest of the team participated.

Clemens rallied from a set down on Monday to capture the win
over San Diego State’s Oliver Maiberger in three sets, 4-6,
6-3, 7-5.

“I think Tobias played the best he had in a year and a
half,” Martin said.

To get to the the semi-finals, Clemens had to play against
fellow teammate, junior Erfan Djahangiri in the third round, where
he kept him at bay 6-3, 6-2. UCLA’s Lassi Ketola made it to
the semi-finals but lost to Mailberger 6-3, 6-3.

While the team did well in the singles department, the doubles
did not prosper as much. At Sherwood the team of Clemens and Ketola
lost in the semi-finals 8-3.

Meanwhile at the NCTC, the nationally top-ranked and first
seeded team of sophomore Marcin Matkowski and junior Jean-Julian
Rojer were able to make it to the finals but lost 9-8, losing 7-5
in the tie-breaker. Grilli and senior Derrick Nguyen lost to
Stanford’s David Martin and Scott Lipsky 8-6 in the
semis.

“We know we could have beaten them in the doubles finals
and we lost to players they can normally stand against,”
assistant coach Jason Sher said, “But it was a good
opportunity for them.”

With the season just beginning, the team understands it will
take time to click with each other.

But the team has had no problem accepting their newest member at
the outset of the season. They know Grilli can compete with the
best.

“We’ve been practicing with Rodrigo for a week and a
half now,” Nguyen said. “But already he acts like a
pro. It’s good to see him do so well.”