NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Sophomore Marcin
Matkowski and the rest of the UCLA men’s tennis team
defeated UCSB 6-1 at the L.A. Tennis Center.
By Gilbert Quiñonez
Daily Bruin Contributor
The sound of rackets being thrown viciously at the ground
perfectly described how the day went for the UC Santa Barbara
men’s tennis team against UCLA.
The Bruins looked so dominant that most of the fans in
attendance left before the singles matches even started ““ the
singles matches are worth six of the possible seven points. UCLA
cruised to a 6-1 victory over powerless UCSB in front of about 200
fans at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
“I like it when I see him (Mike Placek of UCSB) throw
rackets,” said junior Lassi Ketola, who along with doubles
partner Tobias Clemens beat Placek and Alex Anselme 8-2. During his
singles match, Placek also yelled out, “God dang
it!”
In the other doubles matches, UCLA’s duo of Jean-Julien
Rojer and Marcin Matkowski beat Carlos Palencia/Marcin Kosakowski
8-2, and UCLA’s Erfan Djahangiri/ Rodrigo Grilli beat Alex
Yaftali/Ilya Leshinsky 8-1.
UCLA’s only loss came when UCSB’s top player,
Palencia, beat Rojer ““ UCLA’s No. 1 starter 6-1,
6-2.
“I was disappointed with our No. 1 singles. (Rojer) is an
experienced enough player not to do this in the first game of the
season,” UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. “Your No. 1
guy is supposed to be your leader.”
The No. 3 starter, Matkowski, was losing to Placek 5-1 in the
first set. Then Matkowski pulled it together to only lose the first
set 4-6, before winning the next two sets, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 4 starter Grilli made an impressive debut for UCLA, winning
his first singles match against Anselme, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2.
“I just got off to a good start, and then I realized that
I had broken his serve twice, then three times,” Grilli said.
“I kind of fell asleep in the second set a little
bit.”
But Grilli said that he woke up during the last game of the
second set, after which he started beating Anselme easily
again.
No. 6 starter Ketola beat Marcio Pepe 6-2, 6-1 in a match that
took almost as long as the three-set matches. Every point seemed to
turn into a never-ending rally.
“I just played a little too safe, I should have finished
more points,” said Ketola, who enjoyed showing off his
specialty ““ the backhand lob.
No. 2 starter Clemens easily beat Kosakowski, 6-3, 6-2. No. 5
starter Djahangiri beat Yaftali 6-2, 6-2.
The first game was a good experience and a relief for some
players.
“I’m really happy to be over it. I didn’t know
what to expect,” Grilli said.