By Rekha Rao
Daily Bruin Contributor
The No. 1-ranked UCLA men’s tennis team hopes to continue
its winning streak when it takes on University of Nevada, Las Vegas
this Saturday afternoon, immediately following the women’s
tennis match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The Bruins (8-0) became No. 1 when they beat then-top-ranked
Stanford at the National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle last
weekend. The most exciting game of the match came when sophomore
Jean-Julian Rojer beat NCAA champion Alex Kim 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Rojer lost the first set, then came back, fighting off three
match points in the third set to win the match.
With that big weekend behind them, the Bruins now head into
their match against UNLV.
“We have to be aware of this team, and we have to play
with the same intensity that we played against Stanford in the
finals last weekend,” freshman Tobias Clemens said.
Although the excitement of being the top team in the nation has
kept the Bruins going, they are a little tired from all the
traveling.
“I think we had a great past week, but we are all pretty
tired. We are taking a little rest and then starting to practice
hard again on Friday for Saturday’s match,” Rojer
said.
This meeting between the Bruins and the Rebels will be their
fourth match against each other. The Bruins hold a 3-0 advantage in
the all-time series between the schools.
Senior Nenad Zivkovic leads the UNLV team, which now holds a 3-2
record in league play.
“I am expecting them to be a pretty good team. They should
be really excited to play against the No. 1 team in the country and
should be ready to try and beat us. A win over the No. 1 team could
make their season,” Head Coach Billy Martin said.
But the Bruins are still riding their confidence from last
weekend’s win.
“They are a pretty good team, but we expect to win,”
Rojer said.
Although the team is now considered the best team in the
country, it will not affect the way they play the game or how they
approach future matches.
“It doesn’t matter to us, we are the same team
whether we are number ten or number one,” Martin said.
“As a coach, I am fearful that we may get cocky and expect
teams to just roll over and die when they play us. But that
won’t happen.”
The team’s strength lies with its singles. The Bruins are
a solid team of six all-around players who are capable of winning
each of their matches.
“Every player can play in any position in our team,”
Clemens said.
“We have great depth throughout all of our singles,”
Martin added. “Most teams are strong at the top and then weak
at the bottom, but we have strength throughout our
lineup.”
The Bruins’ doubles have greatly improved over the course
of the season. Although at first they were struggling to find out
teams that fit together, now each team is playing as a unit rather
than individually.
“Our doubles play has improved a lot, we won all the
doubles last week,” Rojer said.
After the game on Saturday against the Rebels, the Bruins will
meet cross-town rival USC at Marks Tennis Stadium at 1:30 p.m on
Wednesday.