After failing to compete in the fall due to injury and
subsequently struggling in his return to the Bruin lineup, senior
Rodrigo Grilli looks to have finally recovered his stroke as he
helped lead the No. 3 UCLA men’s tennis team to a resounding
6-1 home victory over a visiting San Diego State team.
Less than a year ago, Grilli won the Pac-10 singles championship
and looked forward to enjoying a successful senior year; however,
his injury has meant that he has been unable to live up to his
preseason No. 16 ranking. That seems to have changed, though, as
No. 98 Grilli defeated Felix Hardt 6-3, 4-6, (10-3) in the No. 2
singles position.
“I think today was probably one of my best matches that
I’ve played all year,” Grilli said. “I was happy
with my performance.”
While the Bruins are pleased to have Grilli playing well again,
SDSU had to deal with the loss of their nationally ranked No. 2
doubles team due to the injury of junior Ryan Redondo. As a result,
the Bruins were able to capture the doubles point with ease,
winning 8-5, 8-4, 8-2.
With Ryan Redondo not playing, SDSU’s singles lineup was
moved around as well, and consequently, UCLA head coach Billy
Martin decided to allow Bruin regulars Marcin Matkowski and Lassi
Ketola to sit out their respective matches. This allowed sophomore
Alberto Francis and freshman Aaron Yovan some much needed game
experience.
“It’s important with us losing so many guys this
year (to give the younger players experience),” Martin said.
“We need those guys to step up next year.”
However, the two younger players were able to answer their
coach’s call today, with Alberto Francis blowing out Mike
Coehlo 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 5 singles position, and Aaron Yovan
winning his match against Will LeFevre 6-3, 6-4 on the No. 6
court.
The other two wins of the day for UCLA came from No. 6-ranked
junior Tobias Clemens in the No. 1 position over No. 53 Oliver
Maiberger 6-0, 6-1, and No. 33 ranked Erfan Djahangiri over Armando
Carrascosa on the No. 4 court 6-3, 6-1.
The quality of Clemens’ win was especially sweet as he and
Maiberger both hail from Germany and have a history of playing
against each other.
“(Maiberger) beat me in Juniors all the time,”
Clemens said. “He kicked my ass always.”
The lone UCLA loss came on the No. 3 court; No. 24 Chris Lam was
defeated by Daniel Jung 6-4, 1-6, (10-8).
The tennis team now has a two-and-a-half-week break as they
prepare for finals before travelling to Arizona for their second
Pac-10 game of the season, but they’re not worried that the
time off will kill their momentum.
“I’ll let my guys hibernate for finals,”
Martin joked. “And then the whole spring break, we’ll
pretty much practice.”