COURTNEY STEWART Freshman Lassi Ketola
prepares for a return stroke in a match against Georgia Tech.
UCLA 4 Stanford 2
By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Contributor
The No. 3 UCLA men’s tennis team served an upset victory
over No. 1 Stanford in the finals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor
Championships on Sunday. The Bruins defeated the Cardinal 4-2 to
leave them at the pinnacle of a 16-team draw that included the top
teams in the nation, including No. 2 Tennessee and No. 4
Georgia.
Leading the way for the Bruins in the victory over Stanford was
sophomore Jean-Julien Rojer, who upset Alex Kim, the fifth ranked
collegiate player in the nation, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Rojer was down two
breaks in the third set before battling back for the victory.
“I lost two close breaks,” he said. “But I was
just thinking I had to keep fighting and not give up, and I was
trying to scrap my way back into it.”
Freshman Tobias Clemens and sophomore Erfan Djahangiri were the
other singles winners for the Bruins. Clemens defeated freshman
David Martin 6-2, 7-5. Djahangiri beat senior Ali Ansari 7-5,
6-4.
The Bruins also captured the doubles point, winning at first and
third doubles. At first doubles, Rojer and senior Jean-Noel Grinda
defeated Kim and sophomore K.J. Hippensteel 8-5. Clemens and
sophomore Lassi Ketola beat freshmen Ryan Haviland and Carter
Morris 8-6.
This weekend was the first match that all of the doubles teams
played strongly at the same time. The normally dominant UCLA
doubles teams have been struggling until this tournament, but the
Bruins picked up their game and didn’t lose a doubles point
throughout the weekend.
“The thing that made me happiest was our doubles
play,” UCLA Head Coach Billy Martin said. “The guys
really played great doubles. I knew singles would be OK, but
doubles is what really made the difference.”
The USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships is one of the most
important tournaments on the schedule for the nation’s best
teams. It takes place each year at the beginning of the season, and
the winner always claims the No. 1 ranking when the polls are
released in March.
It also gives teams like UCLA a preview of opponents that they
do not meet in dual match play during the season, but might have to
face in the NCAA Championships in May.
“This is the first actual meeting where we can judge which
teams are really good,” Grinda said. “It came out
pretty positively for us.”
In the first round, they blitzkrieged No. 43 San Diego State,
4-0. Then they edged past No. 10 Texas A & M 4-3 before
defeating No. 6 Texas Christian 4-2 in the semifinals.
Martin is happy with the way his team was able to hold off some
of the country’s top programs.
“I was so proud of our guys for the way they played,
against Stanford and the whole week,” he said.
As for the No. 1 ranking, Martin knows that it gives the Bruins
an elite position in collegiate tennis.
“Unless we fall flat on our face, we’ll maintain a
high ranking throughout the rest of the year,” Martin said.
“That should give us a chance to host our regional
tournament, which is very important.”
Martin says that UCLA’s MVP for the tournament was Tobias
Clemens, because of his sharp play throughout the weekend.
“He was so solid and so decisive in all of his
matches,” Martin said. “I don’t think he lost a
set (during the tournament).”
Indeed, Clemens didn’t drop a set en route to winning all
four of his singles matches. Considering the physical strain that
four matches takes on the body, sweeping is a difficult
accomplishment. But Clemens says that he could have played 10
matches if he had to.
“I was in such a great mood and on a good run,” he
said. “Every athlete has these weeks where you feel like you
can’t lose.”
This weekend marked the first time that UCLA has won this
tournament since 1999, and the sixth time since 1991. Stanford is
the only other school to have won this tournament since 1990.
Martin says that his emphasis on the importance of the National
Indoor Championships gives his team an advantage.
“We try to peak at (this time of year) with our
conditioning and our practice,” he said. “And we all
mentally gear up for this tournament.”