Tuesday, February 16, 1999
Team serves up USC’s first loss
By Dave Denicke
Daily Bruin Contributor
In front of the largest home crowd for the Bruins thus far, the
men’s tennis team overcame a sluggish doubles start to hand USC
their first loss of the year, 5-2.
"I was a little disappointed with the doubles, but the guys came
back and did very well in the singles," head coach Billy Martin
said.
Tension filled the Los Angeles Tennis Center early and often
during the match. In doubles competition, all three matches were
close. The top match saw Jean-Noel Grinda and Jong-Min Lee do
battle against top Trojan tandem Ryan Moore and Nicholas
Rainey.
With USC serving up 7-5 and serving for the set, the Bruins
quickly won the first three points. However, UCLA was unable to
capitalize on the break points, and after a long service game that
had six deuces, the Trojans eventually prevailed, 8-5.
"We’re still trying to work on some things, but it was a very
good match," said sophomore All-American Grinda.
After Brandon Kramer and Jason Cook extended dual match
perfection with an 8-6 victory, Bruins Marcin Rozpedski and Chris
Sands came up on the short end of a thrilling tiebreaker to Trojans
Gregg Hill and Andrew Park, 8-6.
However, Rozpedski and Sands quickly recovered, as they finished
their singles matches first and second, respectively, to give UCLA
the lead, two points to one.
The next dramatic moment took place with three second-set
tiebreakers, over the course of five minutes. First, freshman Zach
Fleishman tried to finish off his match against arch-rival
Moore.
Fleishman took the opening set 6-3, but the second featured a
marathon tiebreaker in which Fleishman had several match points
before falling 16-14. Southern Cal eventually took the two slot
behind Moore’s 6-4 win in the third set.
Secondly, Cook won his match by a 7-5, 6-3 score, and let out an
enormous yell to the crowd after giving UCLA a 3-1 edge.
"It’s hard to stay aggressive out there. It’s a lot easier to
sit back and put the ball into play, but I’m a naturally aggressive
player," said Cook.
The third tiebreaker gave junior Kramer his match 6-4, 7-6
(7-2). Kramer’s victory sealed the deal for UCLA, and by the time
the Southern Cal gained the No. 2 singles point, the Bruins had
swept the other five singles points to win the match.
With the victory, UCLA moves to 6-1 (2-1 in Pac-10), heading
into a dual match at Washington on Tuesday, which will be followed
by the National Indoors Tournament, also in Washington.
While the indoor courts are a great departure from the slow
surface of the Los Angeles Tennis Center, Kramer should fit right
in.
"I grew up playing indoors in Reno, because it snows during the
winter up there. I have a very short stroke, and I take the ball on
the rise, so I’m used to it."
About the difference, Coach Martin added, "It’s a big difference
for us. The courts are faster, the ball travels in the air a little
bit quicker and the lighting is different. So it’s an
adjustment."
Another change of pace for the Bruins came courtesy of
Fleishman’s scalp. The freshman dyed his hair blue and gold for his
singles match.
"That’s one of the first times I’ve seen that from one of the
players. Certainly he’s got a lot of spirit, but I can’t say I’m
really fond of that for the players, maybe for the guys in the
stands," said Martin.
UCLA’s next home match is scheduled for Feb. 25, a dual match
against UC Irvine that has been postponed twice due to
rain.GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Junior Jong-Min Lee returns with a backhand in the match against
USC this weekend.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]