Wednesday, November 25, 1998
Strong showings boost team confidence
MTENNIS: Tournament results in semifinal win, doubles
championship
By Dave Denicke
Daily Bruin Contributor
Coming out of the Southern California Intercollegiate
Championships, the UCLA men’s tennis team speaks of confidence.
UCLA is confident not only because they return talented players
from last year, but also because of inspiring play from some
untapped sources.
One such source is junior transfer Jong-Min Lee, who made it to
the finals at the Los Angeles Tennis Club in downtown Los Angeles
this past weekend.
Lee won four matches, including a semifinal victory over fellow
Bruin Chris Sands, before falling in the championships to
top-seeded Cory Guy of UC Santa Barbara.
Lee’s experience will give him the poise to play against top
level opponents.
"This gives me the confidence to compete against the other
guys," said Lee. "Knowing that I can go out and win the tough
matches is important."
Another UCLA standout is senior Brandon Kramer. Coming off of a
quarterfinal finish at the Rolex regional tournament, Kramer
slipped up in the round of sixteen to Pepperdine freshman Chase
Exon.
Kramer rebounded in the doubles draw, teaming up with Lee to win
the championship. In the finals, Kramer and Lee defeated USC’s
combination of Roman Kukal and Ryan Moore. After splitting the
first two sets, the two surged forth in the third and decisive set,
winning 6-4 to take home the championship.
The victory over Southern Cal avenged an earlier loss to the
Trojans, as the No. 3 seeded Kukal and Moore knocked off the other
UCLA doubles tandem of Zach Fleishman and Noah Newman in the
semifinals.
Coach Billy Martin uses these tournaments for fine-tuning the
UCLA lineup. "I wanted to see how different guys played together,"
Martin said, referring to different possible doubles
combinations.
His original idea of putting Jean Noel Grinda together with Lee
is still a possibility, but Martin admits things do not work out
that easily: "It might look and sound good, but until they play
together, you never know."
Chris Sands was another Bruin who played well this weekend.
Before falling to teammate Lee, Sands defeated two seeded-players,
including the No. 2 seed from USC Andrew Park. "I’m happy for him.
That’s the kind of win that helps you get your confidence back,"
Martin said.
The match took three sets, with the Los Gatos native prevailing
7-5 in the final frame.
UCLA’s next tournament, the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, starts
Jan. 5.
While over a month may seem like ample time to prepare for the
regular season, this is not necessarily the case.
"We don’t really have that much time to get ready for it. The
most important thing is to keep playing hard," Lee said.
Coach Martin agrees that there is a lot of tennis to be played
between now and January.
"We have three weeks left of practice and challenge matches. A
lot will be determined from those challenge matches," he said.
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