By Dave Denicke
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The two stood on the stadium courts at the Los Angeles Tennis
Center bracing for the duel. Emotions ran high as the players
scrambled for every shot.
This was no simple practice game; this was for bragging rights.
On one side there was fifth-year senior Brandon Kramer, who knew
this was a golden opportunity to put the uppity freshman in his
place.
Across the net was the confident and at times cocky freshman,
Jean-Julien Rojer. Serving, Rojer wanted to prove to his teammate
that his game was equal to his mouth.
Some dubbed it the duct tape match ““ the winner would
silence the loser, who would lose all rights to talk trash. Both
players recall the result but exactly what was at stake remains
unclear.
“We played one game, where I jokingly said that if he beat
me, I would speak no trash for the rest of the year,” Rojer
said in response to Kramer’s story. “But that was
nothing. He has no right to say that.”
“We were playing a few games, and he started to talk. So I
told him that if I broke him the next game, he couldn’t talk
any shit for the rest of the year,” Kramer said. “I
broke him, but that lasted about an hour.”
The two almost got a rematch in the Pac-10 individual
tournament, but Kramer fell to Alex Kim in the quarterfinals,
preventing what by all accounts would have been the true duct tape
match.
But according to UCLA head coach Billy Martin, the first time
was all fun and games. “Everybody on our team knows an entire
year (without talking trash) would be impossible for Julien, and we
wouldn’t want him to, either,” Martin said.
Playing the bulk of the season at the No. 4 singles position for
the Bruins, Rojer has amassed an eye-popping dual match record of
21-1. Currently ranked 64th nationally, the Pac-10 Freshman of the
Year points to his confidence as the main reason for his high level
of success.
“The way you carry yourself is key,” Rojer said.
“My head gets pretty big, but my parents make sure I stay
humble.”
But for Rojer, results do not always speak for themselves. The
Curacao, Netherlands-Antilles native is more than willing to share
his opinion with teammates and opponents alike. After passing
shots, he has declared, “Get off my net!” After
matches, he has been known to say, “Once again, I played too
well. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Martin said that while Rojer may come off as arrogant to an
outsider, his actions take place within the UCLA tennis
community.
“If you didn’t know him, you’d think
he’s a real braggadocio, arrogant guy,” Martin said.
“But he does that with us.
“This is his family, kind of, and he feels comfortable
with us,” Martin added. “The older guys can’t
imagine this young freshman ribbing them.”
But it has been junior Jean-Noel Grinda, one of the veterans,
who has made a large impact on Rojer. “He’s so
professional, the way he carries himself on the court,” Rojer
said. “He helps me a lot. We get on him a lot because he
likes to tell people what to do. But in some ways ““ a lot of
ways, actually ““ he is right.”
Though Grinda has been a calming force for Rojer, the freshman
remains animated outside of tennis. A quick mention of Atlanta
Braves outfielder and fellow Curacao native Andruw Jones, and his
eyes light up.
“Andruw’s the man,” Rojer said. “You can
see he’s very cocky out there, but yet very self-confident. I
think we’re both the same way like that.”
If given his choice, though, Rojer would rather play elsewhere
on the baseball diamond. “Definitely shortstop,” he
said. “All the ground balls go there and you get a lot of
attention.”
Playing fourth for UCLA, though, Rojer does not get the same
attention as the stadium court matches (Nos. 1-3).
“When I first came here, I wasn’t sure if I would be
happy playing on the back courts,” he said.
“But the guys come back to the back courts and support me.
I try to get all my attention by winning and having a big
mouth,” he added.
Rojer also noted that he liked playing team tennis because of
the camaraderie. “I always seem to play well when
there’s people around me,” he said. “And when my
teammates are counting on me, I like coming through for
them.”
Before arriving at UCLA, Rojer spent his high school days in
Florida, where he amassed an impressive juniors record, not only
for the All Star Academy in Dade County, Fla., but individually in
world juniors as well.
He was ranked 12th in the International Tennis Federation junior
rankings last year and competed in Davis Cup for
Netherlands-Antilles, as well as the Pan Am Games two years ago. So
Rojer’s confidence on the court should not come as a
surprise. With a wicked forehand and a solid serve, he is arguably
the best freshman in college tennis.
His results are drawing comparisons to another UCLA tennis
player who had a great deal of early success: Justin Gimelstob.
Both players have big forehands, big serves and a very competitive
desire to win.
“As far as outspokenness, there’s definitely a
comparison,” Kramer said. “But Justin was really
intense all the time. Julien keeps it more on the inside, he
doesn’t let his frustrations go.”
And just like another well-known UCLA freshman, Rojer sports a
unique fashion sense.
“I try to be different out there. It keeps it fun,”
he said of the headband he wears on the court. “When I saw
(Jason) Kapono wearing one, I realized we could get them. It would
have been better if no one was wearing them, and then I started
wearing them, but that’s okay.”
His teammates see a positive benefit from it. “We have him
wear the headband so his head doesn’t get too big,”
senior Jong-Min Lee said with a laugh.
And while his teammates may kid him about the head gear, Rojer
still claims to have the last laugh.
“Do you remember when I told you by the NCAAs everyone
will be wearing headbands?” Rojer said, referring to a
prediction he made in late February.
“Have you seen us play lately?” he added.
“Have you seen anyone wearing headbands? The whole team is
wearing them. That’s the effect I have on the
team.”
With the NCAA regionals coming up this weekend, it seems Rojer
finally found a way around that duct tape after all.