Bruins win despite doubles struggle

  ED RHEE Junior Jean-Julien Rojer reaches
for the ball on his way to a win over UC San Diego Saturday.

By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Reporter

UCLA head coach Billy Martin was not a happy person on Saturday
afternoon, despite the fact that his team had just defeated No. 51
San Diego, 6-1, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The reason? No. 5 UCLA’s one loss came on the doubles
point, the area the Bruins were most confident in earlier in the
season.

“I’m really pissed off that we would lose the
doubles point,” Martin said. “We were horrendous at No.
3 doubles.”

At No. 3, juniors Erfan Djahangiri and Jean-Julien Rojer lost
8-6 to freshmen Robert Blair and Martin Linusson. Rojer usually
plays No. 1 doubles with sophomore Marcin Matkowski, but Matkowski
was unavailable for the match due to tendinitis.

This was the first time Djahangiri and Rojer played
together.

“It felt good to play with (Rojer),” said an upbeat
Djahangiri. “He’s a really great doubles
player.”

The other doubles losers were sophomore Tobias Clemens and
junior Lassi Ketola, who lost 8-5 at No. 1 doubles to senior Juan
Cerda and sophomore Jason Pongsrikul. But Martin wasn’t as
angry about that loss.

“I was OK with No. 1 doubles,” Martin said.
“They only lost one break.”

Clemens dittoed Martin’s feelings, saying the loss
wasn’t representative of his or Ketola’s playing
ability. Rather, he said, they came out tired.

“Lassi and I were both sick the whole week,” Clemens
said. “We weren’t fired up energy-wise.”

The only doubles winners were freshman Alberto Francis and
junior Rodrigo Grilli, both new to the team. They cruised at No. 2
doubles, upending 8-2 seniors Ricardo Rizo and Ted Burghardt.

Singles was much easier for the Bruins. All six players won,
helping the Bruins to victory.

At No. 1 singles, Clemens easily defeated Rizo 6-3, 6-2 despite
still recovering from illness.

“I had no power in my legs,” Clemens said.
“But since I have won so many matches, I have enough
confidence to know I can’t lose to that guy.”

At No. 2 singles, Rojer defeated Cerda, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, despite
struggling for much of the match.

“(Rojer) is not playing great tennis yet,” Martin
said. “It’s more mental than anything else.”

Grilli defeated Blair at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-3. He was worried
about coming back to the outdoor courts of UCLA after playing
indoors in Kentucky last week, but found the transition easy.

“We’ve been adjusting at practice,” Grilli
said. “We practiced every day so the outdoor courts feel good
now.”

Djahangiri defeated Pongsrikul at No. 4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, and
Ketola defeated Burghardt at No. 5, 6-2, 6-0.

At No. 6, blue chip freshman Alberto Francis played in his first
home match of the year. He had been out since the fall because of
an ankle injury. He beat Linusson, 6-2, 6-3. Francis was glad to
get the victory, but still says he has a ways to go to get back to
pre-injury form.

“It feels good to win, but my legs are tired,” he
said. “And my movement isn’t 100-percent.”

This match was a tune up for Tuesday’s match against No.
40 San Diego State at the LATC.

“If we play on Tuesday like we play today, I don’t
think we’ll win,” Martin said.