Men’s tennis Ojai tune-up cut short by unlucky Friday
By Sarah Harrison
OJAI, Calif. — This weekend at the Pac-10 Championships, the
UCLA men’s tennis team had its last chance to get rid of all of the
kinks before the NCAA Regionals.
Unfortunately, the Bruins’ practice time was cut short, as every
UCLA player that remained in singles after Thursday’s first round
of competition lost Friday in the quarterfinals. Only the tandem of
Justin Gimelstob and Eric Taino represented UCLA Saturday, but they
would go no further than that.
As the NCAAs draw closer, the amount of time that the Bruins
have to practice and prepare is getting smaller. This tournament
provided an opportunity for players to get back on track, refocus
and concentrate on playing well.
There were no titles on the line and no teams to be responsible
for; it was merely an individual tournament. Only three out of the
five Bruins that entered the tournament survived until the
quarterfinals on Friday, and only one out of the two doubles teams
made it to the second round.
Thursday saw the end of Matt Breen, who lost to Manuel Ramirez
in a long three-set match. Heath Montgomery also dropped his first
match on Thursday, losing to Stanford’s Scott Humphries. Humphries
went on to upset the No. 1 seed and the No. 1-ranked player in the
nation, Sargis Sargsian, and ended up playing in the final match
against California’s Michael Hill.
UCLA captain Robert Janecek sailed through Thursday’s
competition, beating Arizona’s Jack Enfield and USC’s Fernando
Samayoa. Janecek looked like he was back in form until he met with
USC’s Brett Hansen on Friday. Hansen has given Janecek trouble all
season, beating him all three times they have met . This time was
no exception as Janecek lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, to end his
singles tournament play.
Friday was an unfortunate day for Janecek, as he and Lin were
eliminated in doubles by Arizona State’s Dave Critchley and
Sargsian, 6-4, 7-6. This came after they had passed the first
round, beating Washington tandem Ornello Arlati and Nick
Williams.
Janecek’s teammate Taino also found hardships. Taino defeated
Oregon’s Hans Forsberg and USC’s Adam Peterson to make it to
Friday, but then lost to Michael Hill, 6-2, 6-4. Hill has been
successful against UCLA in the past, defeating Janecek on April 8,
6-4, 6-3, and Gimelstob on April 21, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3.
Another UCLA nemesis proved to be Jeff Salzenstein, who
eliminated Gimelstob. Gimelstob performed well in the previous
round, easily beating both Arizona State’s Tsolak Gavorkian and
Arizona’s Jan Anderson in straight sets, but faltered against
Salzenstein.
Salzenstein defeated Gimelstob in a previous meeting on April
22, 6-4, 6-4. Gimelstob was able to force him to three sets Friday
in Ojai, taking the second set with a decisive 6-1 score. But he
could not continue his momentum as Salzenstein won the third and
final set, 7-5.
Gimelstob got some revenge on Salzenstein, as he and Taino
knocked Salzenstein and fellow Cardinal Grant Elliot out of the
doubles in the second round. This was the last win for the Bruins
as another Stanford duo, Paul Goldstein and Humphries, beat the
tandem on Saturday.