By Gilbert Quinonez
Daily Bruin Contributor
With a strong wind blowing throughout the match, the No. 3
Bruins appeared to be in control, leading 3-0 over No. 14 Duke and
needing only one more match to win the game.
However, the match took a dramatic turn. Tobias Clemens, up 3-2
in the third set, had fallen behind 3-4. Marcin Matkowski had just
lost the second set forcing a third at this court. Erfan Djahangiri
was also up 3-2 in his set, before falling behind 3-4. Jean-Julien
Rojer had just lost his match 6-1, 6-3. All of a sudden, the Bruins
were up 3-1 with three close matches to be played.
Clemens fought hard to break Phillip King’s serve to lead
the third set, 5-4. That break was one of five during the third
set, unusual in tennis.
“You don’t usually see that many breaks,”
Clemens said. “In the wind, it is harder to serve strong.
You’ve got to put more spin on it, and I did a good job of
it.”
At the same time, Matkowski quickly took a 4-2 lead in the third
set of his match. Matkowski was playing on the court that was most
affected by the wind, as all of the debris flew toward his
court.
“With all of the twigs dropping onto the court, it was
really tough to play,” Matkowski said. “The match was
very ugly.”
Clemens’ serve was broken again, tying the third set at
5-5. Djahangiri then officially clinched the match for the Bruins,
winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
However, in college tennis, the remaining matches are still
played, even though the outcome has already been decided.
Clemens broke King’s serve yet again and then held his
own, winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
“Both Clemens and King are great competitors,”
Martin said.
“I expected it to be a dog fight, and it was.”
While the “falling twigs” delays were going on,
Rodrigo Grilli quickly won his match 6-0, 6-2. He had actually won
his first set before the games on the main courts had started.
In the other singles match, UCLA’s Lassi Ketola beat Peter
Schults 6-3, 6-2.