Torpid men’s tennis slugs UOP in foul weather
By Mark Singerton
Cloudy skies blackened the Los Angeles Tennis Center Saturday as
the fourth-ranked UCLA men’s tennis team overcame sluggish play and
frigid weather to defeat Pacific, 7-0.
Senior Robert Janecek’s 7-6, 6-4 win over Pacific’s Adi Kremer
characterized both the Bruins’ resilient but rusty performances in
the cold. In a match filled with unforced errors, Janecek managed
to make each of his 27 winners count, the last coming on a forehand
crosscourt to seal the victory.
Janecek seemed in command of the match at 4-2 in the first set,
but struggled to find his shot throughout the match. For the win,
he had to overcome 5-6 and 3-4 deficits in the first and second
sets, respectively.
"I wish I could say it was the weather that gave me trouble, but
I really don’t know what it was," Janecek said. "I have some
tendonitis in my knee and that was giving me some stiffness in the
cold, but I think I just missed a lot of easy points. I know I
could have played better, but I’m happy with the win."
Junior Eric Taino also had a tough time in ousting Pacific’s Ole
Alex Olsen, 6-4, 7-5. Taino, however, kept constant pressure on his
opponent, converting 14 of 24 points at net.
"(Attacking the net) is definitely a new thing for me," Taino
said. "It’s something I started working on this year. I think I had
some problems in trying to force things in the first set, but
things worked out all right toward the end of the match."
The Bruins were all straight set winners in their respective
matches. Sophomore Eric Lin was particularly sharp in his 90-minute
dismantling of UOP’s Joe Gonzales, 6-1, 6-1.
Among other winners, Matt Breen dispatched Daniel Brandt 6-0,
6-4, and junior Heath Montgomery defeated Mauricio Sovero 6-1, 6-4.
Sophomore Loren Peters beat Jorge Abreu 6-1, 6-3.
In doubles competition, the Bruins took two out of three matches
from the Tigers for one of their seven team points. Montgomery and
Breen combined for an 8-6 win over Brandt and Olsen, Janecek and
Lin walloped Kremer and Abreu 8-1. Taino and Peters were upset,
8-4.