By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Contributor
After their April 6 match against Stanford, the UCLA men’s
tennis team felt in a young Rocky-esque state ““ worn and
weathered from a sorrowful defeat.
And like Rocky, they have their eyes on dramatic revenge this
weekend when they travel up to the Bay Area to take on Cal and
Stanford in the final dual matches of the year.
In the earlier match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, the
Bruins lost a close 4-3 battle to the Cardinal. But they were
without their regular No. 1 singles player, sophomore Jean-Julien
Rojer, because he was in Uruguay playing in the Davis Cup. The
Bruins were also without their regular No. 3 singles player,
freshman Tobias Clemens, because he was suffering from a foot
injury.
This weekend, UCLA (19-1, 6-1 Pac-10) should be at full strength
for their toughest road dual matches of the year. And bringing an
injury-free team could be the difference in what is a perennial
close battle between the Bruins and the Cardinal (18-1, 7-0).
“Last time, we didn’t have our top two players and
we still felt that we should have won,” said sophomore Travis
Rettenmaier. “Even though we lost last time, we feel like we
are the favorites going in.”
But the Pac-10 title is not on the line this weekend, since
technically these matches are not Pac-10 matches due to the rule
that each Pac-10 team only gets to play one official Pac-10 match
against every other Pac-10 team. This match will only count towards
the NCAA 25-match limit, but not towards the Pac-10 record.
Each Pac-10 team plays seven official Pac-10 matches, as
Washington State and Oregon State don’t have teams.
Therefore, Stanford has already clinched the Pac-10 title despite
being ranked lower than UCLA.
Even though the Pac-10 title is not on the line, the No. 1
ranking going into the NCAA Championships is still up for grabs. If
UCLA loses, it will most likely drop to No. 2 or No. 3 in the
rankings, and Stanford will take over at No. 1.
“We want to be No. 1,” Rettenmaier said. “That
has been our goal all season. So (Stanford) is a big match for us
mentally.”
But for UCLA Head Coach Billy Martin, just being ranked in the
top four is what is most important.
“I just want to be in the top four going into the NCAA
Championships,” Martin said. “Because seed-wise, I
would rather play a team seeded 13 through 16 than nine through
12.”
In order for UCLA to earn the right to defend their No. 1
ranking on Saturday, they need to get past a feisty Cal team on
Friday.
UCLA defeated Cal 5-2 two weeks ago at the LATC, but the Golden
Bears (13-7, 4-3) always play well at home and should put up a
strong fight.
Is UCLA overlooking Cal in its intense anticipation of a rematch
with Stanford? Rettenmaier assures that they are not.
“Cal has had some great wins this year,” he said.
“Cal has some guys that are very flashy. Nobody is taking
them lightly.”