Thursday, April 23, 1998
Bruins hope Pac-10 showing fuels Ojai’s insane devotion to
game
MTENNIS: Eight UCLA players en route to madness, challenges at
Individual Championships
By Stephanie Chan
Daily Bruin Contributor
Ojai, the town that eats, sleep and breathes tennis, will be
tasting it, dreaming about it and inhaling it even more. UCLA’s
men’s tennis players will be joining in Ojai’s tennis madness for
the Pac-10 Individual Championships from April 23-26.
Eight Bruins – Jean-Noel Grinda, Vince Allegre, Matt Breen, Alex
Decret, Jason Cook, Brandon Kramer, Chris Sands and Noah Newman –
will be engulfed in the mania.
Grinda, Allegre, Breen and Decret will compete for the
conference champion title while Cook, Kramer, Sands and Newman
battle in the Pac-10 Invitational bracket.
No. 20 Grinda (26-11) will see a familiar face on the other side
of the net in the first round, that of Arizona’s Roland Kupka. In
both of their meetings this season, Grinda claimed the win, 6-4,
6-3 in January and 6-1, 6-2 in March.
No. 13 Allegre (43-11) has also been paired with a first round
Wildcat opponent, No. 89 Michel Stopa. When Allegre and Stopa
shared the court earlier this season, Allegre defeated Stopa 6-3,
6-4.
No. 39 Breen (26-9) will encounter a deja vu match tomorrow
against Cal’s Nathan Jackmon (10-11). Breen faced Jackmon a week
ago and emerged with a 6-2, 6-2 win.
Decret (17-12) will come in as the underdog against Arizona
State’s No. 48 Gustavo Marcaccio (26-10). Decret lost to Marcaccio
in October’s Rolex Regional Tournament, 7-6, 6-3.
Kramer and Newman will be in unfamiliar waters in the first
round of the Pac-10 Invitational bracket with a pair of Ducks –
Oregon Ducks.
Kramer (18-11) will face Oregon’s Cedric Van Haver (2-6). In
this season’s UCLA-Oregon dual match, Cook defeated Van Haver, 6-1,
6-2.
Newman (18-7) will meet Oregon’s Jeff Thomsen (11-8).
Sands (10-8) will be paired with Washington doubles player Nick
Quatrochi in the first round. Quatrochi and his partner Mark
Woolley lost to the team of Decret and Kramer, 8-3, in doubles
earlier this season.
Cook (18-7) received a first round bye in the invitational
group. He will play the winner of the Nova Adran (Arizona) and
Charles Hoeveler (Stanford) match-up.
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Jean-Noel Grinda will be playing in the Pac-10 Championships in
Ojai.