Bruin tennis still waiting to meet their match

By Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Staff

Now that it has garnered its sixth consecutive berth in the
semifinals of the NCAA Championships, the top-seeded UCLA men’s
tennis team will contend with the bite of the Georgia Bulldogs
today at 6 p.m. at LATC.

After more than a few epic battles, including a 1993 NCAA
semifinal duel that ended in a Bulldog victory at 1 a.m., and this
season’s 4-3 UCLA victory in the National Indoor Championship
final, the two teams are no strangers to showdowns.

This time, however, the Bruins hold a trump card that had been
in Georgia’s deck the past two years – the home court.

"It’s a different ball game, it’s at our place," UCLA head coach
Billy Martin said. "We’ve had many upsetting losses to Georgia, so
I don’t think any of us are going to have much sympathy."

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (22-3), who are 10 years removed from
their most recent NCAA title, are still smarting from the sting of
this season’s loss in Louisville, and the prospect of revenge is
most appealing.

"(The loss) was really hard, we had a good look at it," Georgia
head coach Manuel Diaz said. "(A rematch) is something we’ve been
looking for ward to. It’s a challenge."

With the nerve-jangling reputation that the previous engagements
have established, the Bulldogs come in with something to prove
against a team that they deem to be the measuring stick for the
rest of the country.

"It’s going to be a very close match, our teams are both very
talented," Diaz said. "We think UCLA is…the kind of team everyone
else gauges themselves against."

No love lost as Bulldogs, UCLA prepare to showdown, get
revenge

JON FERRY/Daily Bruin Bold Alex Decret help with UCLA’s
defeat of Duke and Northwestern in the NCAA championships