No. 1 Bruins bully ‘Dogs
M. tennis wins easily, even without top-ranked Gimelstob UCLA
wins easily
By Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
Fresh off being crowned the new No. 1 team in the nation, the
UCLA men’s tennis team took the court yesterday at the Los Angeles
Tennis Center (LATC) to battle ninth-ranked Fresno State
University. With top-ranked singles player Justin Gimelstob away at
a pro tournament in Arizona, the rest of the squad stepped up, both
in the ladder and on court, to take down the Bulldogs.
"To win the match without Justin here was a really good win for
the team," UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. "Everyone dug a
little deeper because we knew we didn’t have him. We came out
fighting and to beat a team like this without Justin here is a real
compliment to the other guys."
Senior Srdjan Muskatirovic took over the No. 1 spot and
dismantled Fresno State’s Frederick Bergh, who was ranked 15th in
the nation. After a tough first set, Muskatirovic stepped up his
play to win 7-5, 6-2.
"I didn’t play well," Muskatirovic said. "I wasn’t happy with
the way I played, I thought I could have played much better. I just
have to get my game back, it’s just a matter of time. I think I had
my concentration at a higher level than he did."
Junior Eric Taino filled in admirably at the second spot as he
dismantled Frederick Giers, who was ranked 10th in the country.
Taino’s game was as good as it’s been all year, as he strung Giers
from side-to-side in a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
"(Playing the 10th-ranked player) keeps you a little sharper,"
Taino said. "He’s the kind of player who you have to beat, he’s not
going to beat himself."
At the third position, junior Jason Thompson fell in two sets
but fellow junior Matt Breen gutted out a tough three-set match,
defeating Brian Juinio 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. The sixth position also fell
to the Dogs as Heath Montgomery lost in three sets. Freshman
Vincent Allegre split a pair of tiebreakers, losing a match point
in the process to Ryan Juinio.
After spending a weekend on the fast indoor courts in
Louisville, the transition to the slower outdoor courts at the LATC
was a factor that had the coaching staff. On an exceptionally windy
day, the squad showed minimal rust as they beat back the
Bulldogs.
"I don’t think we’re used to it 100 percent," Martin said. "It’s
always tougher to go from indoors to outdoors so I didn’t feel like
we played our top tennis but certainly good enough to win."
Gimelstob, who was competing at a professional tournament, was
unable to return for the match against FSU. After winning his first
round match against Englishman Karol Kucera, Gimelstob had planned
to return to Los Angeles for yesterday’s match and then return to
Scottsdale for his second round match today.
A rule in the ATP, the Association of Tennis Professionals,
guidelines prohibits such a move and Gimelstob was faced with
either a three month suspension from the ATP tour or missing the
match.
"It’s not that he didn’t plan on being here," Martin said. "But
he would have been suspended for three months or maybe six when he
returned to the tour."
Gimelstob will most likely be with the team over the weekend as
it takes on Arizona and Arizona State in Arizona. He will also skip
the remaining professional tournaments that are scheduled during
the NCAA tennis season.
The win solidified the undefeated Bruins’ hold on the No. 1
ranking in the country in the most recent Rolex Collegiate
Rankings, a mantle that they assumed by virtue of their 12-0 record
and victory over the previous No. 1 Stanford in Louisville.Comments
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