Men’s tennis defeats USC 6-1

If this was a midterm, the No. 1 UCLA men’s tennis team
would have set the curve.

In the team’s first true test of the season, playing
against defending national champion USC across town, it passed with
flying colors.

When all was said and done Friday afternoon at Marks Tennis
Stadium, the green courts were spattered with cardinal and gold,
and the Bruins walked away with a convincing 6-1 victory, winning
all three doubles matches and five of the six singles matches.

The match moves the Bruins to 4-0 overall, and 1-0 in the
Pac-10. With the loss, the No. 7 Trojans drop to 3-2, 0-1 in the
Pac-10.

From start to finish, UCLA played solid tennis. The team
jumped out early, and didn’t surrender late, even with the
outcome a foregone conclusion.

“I was really happy with our doubles,” UCLA head
coach Billy Martin said. “It was a great start,
especially at No. 1.”

The No. 1 doubles team of Rodrigo Grilli and Marcin Matkowski
dismantled USC’s Prakah Amritraj and Daniel Langre, 8-0.

Following that impressive performance, the No. 2 doubles team of
Tobias Clemens and Lassi Ketola defeated USC’s Johan Berg and
Ruben Torres, 8-6. At No. 3 doubles, Alberto Francis and Erfan
Djahangiri downed USC’s Parker Collins and Whit Livinston,
8-5.

With the doubles point in hand, all it took was three singles
wins to secure victory for the team.

“It’s tough to win three singles matches,”
Martin said. “But when you’ve got to win four,
it’s even harder.”

Winning three proved a breeze for the Bruins, as straight-set
victories at the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions sealed
the deal early in the afternoon.

At No. 6 singles, Ketola took down Scott Patterson 6-2, 6-1.
Removed from the commotion of the five main courts, he simply took
care of business, without any help from fans.

“The match went so fast nobody had time to come
visit,” he said.

In his first big match as a Bruin, Chris Lam had no problems at
No. 5 singles, defeating Collins 6-2, 6-2.

Djahangiri also did his job. With the score 3-0 and his
teammates at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 positions struggling,
Djahangiri knew he could bring victory to his team.

“I really wanted to be the one to finish it off,” he
said.

And finish he did, beating Torres 6-3, 6-1.

The only bright spot of the day for the Trojans came at No. 1
singles, as Amritraj registered a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Clemens,
the NCAA’s No. 12 singles player.

“If I lose every match, and we win the NCAAs, I would do
it right away,” Clemens said. “That’s fine
with me. It’s just about the team. If we get the
“˜W’, 6-1, that’s great.”

The match score could’ve been a lot closer.

At No. 2 singles, Matkowski battled back after losing the first
set to post a 2-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) victory over Berg.

Grilli showed amazing resolve at No. 3 singles. He won the first
set, lost the second, and found himself down 4-1 in the
third. But Grilli clawed back, even with a team victory
already secured, to register a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory over
Langre.

“Rodrigo gutsed it out,” Martin said.

The Bruins passed their test. They beat a good team, on the
road, in convincing fashion.

“Everyone is happy,” Djahangiri said.

Everyone, that is, except USC.