ONLINE EXTRA: Men’s tennis recap

By Gilbert Quinonez
Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA had just lost the first set on each of the backcourts, with
Jean-Julien Rojer losing the first set at one of the main courts
and one of the Bruins’ key players, Rodrigo Grilli out
because of an injury. No. 33 Washington had an opportunity to steal
a major upset against the No. 3 Bruins.

“I really thought Washington could win,” said the
injured Grilli, who watched his team play from the backcourt
bleachers. “But I know I have a good team, and (the Huskies)
were just playing really well, they weren’t going to play
that well for the whole game. It was still kind of
scary.”

Grilli thought correctly. Erfan Djahangiri and Lassi Ketola
ended up coming back to win their matches in three sets. Combined
with Tobias Clemens’ and Marcin Matkowski’s victories,
the Bruins ended up beating Washington 5-2, in Seattle.

“For a while there, I was quite worried,” head coach
Billy Martin said. “You can’t take it for granted
you’re going to beat them.”

Unlike the match against Washington, the Bruins were in control
for most of the match at Oregon the following day. After an initial
struggle in doubles, the Bruins won every singles match, with only
Ketola needing to go to three sets. The Bruins (18-3, 5-0 Pac-10)
won 7-0, the fourth shutout win for the Bruins this season.

More significant about the Oregon match was the return of
Grilli, who was recovering from a groin injury that caused him to
miss about two weeks. He beat Jason Menke 7-6, 6-1.

“I felt really good,” Grilli said. “I felt
really happy to be out there fighting for the team. I was a little
off, trying to get back into rhythm. I knew I’d be
okay.”

The Bruins are currently tied for first in the Pac-10
conference, with two games left. If the Bruins beat Cal and
Stanford this weekend, they will win the conference title. However,
the team isn’t too worried about it.

“Truthfully, it’s small in regards to the end of our
season,” Martin said.