Absence of top players allows for NorCal victories

  COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Sophomore Tobias
Clemens backhands a return in UCLA’s 4-3 loss to Cal on
Friday.

By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Reporter

In college tennis, if one of a team’s top seven players is
out, it isn’t a big deal.

If two of the top seven are out, then it becomes much more
difficult to win.

And if three of the top seven are out, then it probably takes a
miracle to get a victory.

Especially against top teams like No. 22 Cal and No. 6
Stanford.

UCLA, missing three key players for a variety of reasons, got no
such miracle this weekend. The squad, ranked No. 2 in the country
going into the weekend, fell to Cal on Friday, 4-3, and followed
that up with a 5-2 loss to Stanford on Saturday in what were their
last regular season home dual matches of the season.

“We fought as hard as we could this weekend,” said
UCLA assistant coach Jason Sher. “But it’s tough
playing with so many guys missing.”

Junior Jean-Julien Rojer, usually the No. 2 singles player for
the Bruins, went to Guatemala to play in the Davis Cup for his home
country, the Netherlands-Antilles.

Junior Rodrigo Grilli, who usually plays at No. 3 or No. 4
singles, was sidelined with a groin injury. He tried to play
Saturday against Stanford, but had to retire down 3-2 in the first
set against junior Scott Lipsky.

And freshman Alberto Francis, a borderline No. 6/No. 7 prospect,
had to abruptly go home to Texas due to a family emergency.

“I’m not making any excuses, but it is very unusual
to have three guys out like this,” said junior Erfan
Djahangiri, who lost to freshman Conor Niland of Cal in three sets
at No. 3 singles on Friday, but bounced back for a 6-4, 6-4 victory
over junior Ryan Haviland on Saturday.

“Having three guys out like this is a first for me,”
said UCLA head coach Billy Martin, who is stuck on 199 career
victories. “It was a new experience. A little bad luck, but
better now than at the NCAA (Championships).”

UCLA had a golden opportunity to beat the Golden Bears. They won
the doubles point, winning at No. 1 doubles with sophomore Marcin
Matkowski and junior Lassi Ketola, 8-1, and sophomore Tobias
Clemens and Djahangiri at No. 2 doubles, 8-4.

But the Bruins’ day went south from there. Senior Derrick
Nguyen, playing at No. 5 singles, and freshman Nick Kreiss, playing
at No. 6, lost in straight sets to give Cal the lead.

UCLA bounced back temporarily. Matkowski, playing at No. 2, and
Ketola, playing at No. 4, both recorded straight set victories.

But after Djahangiri lost, Clemens lost a tough battle versus
junior John Paul Fruttero at No. 1 singles, 7-6, 6-4, and Cal had
pulled off the unlikely upset.

This is Cal’s second big road upset of the season. They
won at Stanford earlier in February.

“Cal is a really tough team,” Djahangiri said.
“But we came close.”

They were closer against Cal then against the Cardinal.

UCLA looked overmatched from the beginning against Stanford.
They dropped all three doubles matches, and couldn’t muster
up enough singles victories to win the match.

Matkowski and Ketola both lost three set contests, Nguyen lost
in two sets, and Grilli had to retire.

The only winners were Djahangiri and Clemens. Clemens pulled out
a tough 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 win over senior K.J. Hippensteel.

But it was too little, too late for the Bruins. Especially for
Matkowski, who was very hard on himself for not winning.

“From the very beginning, I didn’t play well,”
he said. “I wasn’t rested enough. I was supposed to win
and I really let the team down. I’m very
disappointed.”

Martin wasn’t as hard on his players, complementing them
for their toughness and resiliency in the face of adversity.

“I was happy because we really fought hard,” he
said.

Despite the tough losses, the general sentiment among the team
on Saturday was that they are better than both Cal and Stanford,
and when they travel to the Bay Area in two weeks, they should have
a full squad and should get revenge on both the teams.

“When we play Cal and Stanford in two weeks, we’re
going to kill them,” Djahangiri said.