Men’s tennis gears up for Final Four

By Gilbert Quiñonez3
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]

And then there were four.

With 4-0 wins against Florida and Auburn, the UCLA men’s
tennis team will play Georgia at 5 p.m. today in the Final Four
being played at College Station, Texas.

“It’s very exciting,” No. 6 starter Lassi
Ketola said. “I have a great feeling right now.”

On Saturday, the No. 4 Bruins got off to a fast start against
the No. 13 Gators and never looked back. UCLA won the doubles point
and won the first set in every singles match.

“When you look at the scoreboard and you see all of those
losses, it can be discouraging,” UCLA head coach Billy Martin
said.

The start to the match against Auburn wasn’t as easy. The
Bruins narrowly won the doubles point, winning 8-6 and 8-5 on
courts No. 1 and No. 3 but losing 8-4 on court No. 2.

Still, the Bruins came out playing singles very well, winning
the first set in every match.

“I was relaxed when everyone started out really
well,” No. 2 starter Rodrigo Grilli said. “I knew all I
had to do was play my tennis to help the team.”

Jean-Julien Rojer’s 6-4, 6-1 victory over Mark Kovacs in
No. 4 singles clinched the quarterfinal match for the Bruins and
gave them a chance to rest for Georgia.

Georgia got a scare from Pepperdine yesterday, having four of
their six singles matches go into three sets. The NCAA uses a
format in which every round from the Round of 16 to the finals is
played on consecutive days, meaning finishing a match early and
getting extra rest can be crucial.

“We haven’t had any grueling matches,” Martin
said. “We might be a touch fresher, and it might help us if
we have a long match.”

Still, beating Georgia won’t be easy. Georgia is currently
ranked No. 1 nationally.

“I know they’re a great team,” Martin said.
“Whoever comes out and plays great tennis is going to win. No
one will be able to win by playing bad tennis.”

Joining UCLA and Georgia in the Final Four will be No. 2
Tennessee and No. 11 USC. The Trojans managed to pull two upsets on
two consecutive days over No. 6 Baylor and No. 3 Illinois.

“USC’s a good team, I predicted they’d make it
to the semifinals,” Martin said. “I think they can beat
Tennessee.”

This Final Four features two Pac-10 teams in competition against
Southeastern Conference teams. The Pac-10 and the SEC are
considered to be the two strongest conferences in college tennis,
with seven of the final 16 teams coming from those conferences.

While the Bruins didn’t play against Georgia and Tennessee
this season, they went 2-1 against USC. In the past, UCLA has had
difficulties against the Bulldogs going 3-9 all-time against
Georgia and 6-2 against the Volunteers.

USC and Tennessee will play at 2 p.m., and the final will be
played at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. An individual tournament will begin on
Wednesday.