M.tennis: Men’s tennis sweeps Irvine
By Jessica Jue
Jan. 14, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Returning only two starters from a team that made it to the NCAA
semifinals last season, the UCLA tennis team wasn’t quite
sure how it would respond to start this season.
If its opening performance is any indication, the Bruins will
respond just fine. Making it look easy, No. 7 UCLA (1-0) dismantled
visiting UC Irvine, 7-0, on Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis
Center.
“We were all a little apprehensive going into this
match,” coach Billy Martin said. “The guys had the
butterflies, were nervous and tentative, and I am never quite sure
how they will react.”
“But they handled UCI pretty darn well. The team came out,
maintained their concentration, and finished strong.”
Though there were the inevitable first-match jitters, every
Bruin player posted a straight set victory.
No. 12-ranked Tobias Clemens defeated UCI’s Zoran Korac,
6-3, 6-3 on court No. 1.
Clemens, who is looking forward to making the best of his last
year at UCLA, was also pleased with the team’s solid
victory.
“It’s always a good way to start the season with a
big 7-0 win,” he said.
Junior team captain Chris Lam played a solid match, as well,
defeating Jonathan Endrikat, 6-3, 7-6(10) after having difficulties
returning the ball in the second set.
“Missing all those returns made the match really
close,” Lam said. “I was hoping to get a break on
Endrikat’s serve, so I just had to hope for the opportunity,
and luckily, I pulled it off.”
New to the team, freshman Philipp Gruendler made his first
collegiate tennis appearance Tuesday, beating Mustafa Ulukan, 6-2,
6-4.
Despite such a solid match, Gruendler still believes that his
game was not at its best.
“I was not so content with my game because my opponent was
really defensive,” he said. “My inconsistencies today
caused me to be less confident. I still need more time to get used
to everything.”
Gruendler wasn’t kidding. In the doubles portion of
Tuesday’s match, he thought he was finished when his team won
six games. But in college tennis, doubles is played to eight.
“I was surprised,” he said.
Although not expecting to do so, UCLA swept all three doubles
matches against UCI.
“I knew we had a good chance to win in singles matches,
but I was a little more concerned about doubles because of the new
teams,” Martin said. “It was a real challenge for us,
but my guys came through.”
Kris Kwinta, a junior transfer from Tennessee, teamed with
Alberto Francis to defeat UCI’s Brian Morton and Endrikat,
the No. 6 doubles team in the country, 8-5.
“This being Kwinta’s first match with Francis, I
wasn’t sure how he would handle it,” Martin said.
“But they stuck to the game plan and had a very good win over
a very good team.”
And though it was a good win, something didn’t quite feel
right to Clemens, the team’s lone senior. Gone from last
season are Marcin Matkowski, Rodrigo Grilli, Erfan Djahangiri and
Lassi Ketola, four of Clemens’ best friends.
“When we do a little huddle at the beginning, and there
was no Rigo, no Erf, no Marcin, no Lassi, I thought, “˜Dude,
we can’t start. They’re not here yet,'” Clemens
said. “It was interesting, but we’ll get used to
it.”
The team, which will rely on the leadership of Clemens and Lam
and look to the newcomers to step up, is glad to have one win under
its belt.
“I’m glad we could get off on the right start with
this match,” Martin said.
In other singles action, Francis defeated Ryusuke Kashiwabara,
6-3, 6-2, Kwinta beat Morton, 6-3, 6-4, and Aaron Yovan beat Renouk
Wijemanne, 6-1, 7-6(3).
