By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Contributor
It’s been a tough year for Chris Sands.
The senior co-captain of the men’s tennis team, who has
shown nothing but grace and enthusiasm on and off the court since
debuting for the Bruins in 1996, lost his job this year.
Younger talent, including freshmen Tobias Clemens and Marcin
Matkowski, arrived in 2000 and took over his spots on both the
singles and doubles roster. Therefore, Sands has never gotten the
opportunity to return to the form he was in when he was ranked as
high as No. 53 in the nation early last season in singles.
But despite being demoted, Sands has stayed a team player
throughout the year.
“He always stays positive. He’s been a true-blue
Bruin, even though I know he’s been quite unhappy and
discouraged that he hasn’t been able to play
full-time,” UCLA Head Coach Billy Martin said.
But with the absence of both sophomore Jean-Julien Rojer, who is
in Uruguay playing in Davis Cup, and Clemens, who is out due to a
foot injury, Sands will get one last chance in his UCLA career to
help his team in its quest for a national championship.
He will be playing at No. 6 singles when the Bruins take the
court this afternoon at the Los Angeles Tennis Center against No. 6
Stanford (13-1, 5-1 Pac-10) in what is most likely the
Bruins’ most important dual match of the season. With a win,
UCLA (16-0, 6-0) can help secure homecourt advantage for the NCAA
Regionals and stay atop the rankings for the eighth straight
week.
But senior Jean-Noel Grinda says that a win won’t be easy
for the Bruins without two of their top players.
“Without Julien and Tobias, it will be a great challenge
(to win),” Grinda said. “Even though we are number one,
we are coming in as if we are the underdogs.”
The Bruins have usually been underdogs in college tennis’
greatest rivalry in the past 30 years. Since 1970, Stanford has
claimed 17 NCAA Championships, with UCLA’s seven titles
leaving them a distant second.
But the Bruins have a slight 45-41 advantage in dual match play
against the Cardinal, including a 4-2 win earlier this season in
the finals of the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Seattle.
Does the win give UCLA a psychological edge going into
today’s match?
“I don’t think so,” Martin said.
“Stanford is gonna be fighting mad because they don’t
want to lose two times.”
Past records won’t matter because more than just a win is
at stake. Since UCLA and Stanford usually have two of the top
tennis programs in the nation, there is a good chance they could
meet each other again in the late rounds of many important
tournaments later on in the year.
“We don’t want to lose to them and they don’t
want to lose to us,” Martin said. “Especially because
that is a team that we could play in the semifinals or finals of
the NCAA (championships), if we get there.”
The Bruins will also face No. 27 Cal on Saturday afternoon at
the LATC. UCLA has owned Cal in its history, posting a 66-6 record
against the Golden Bears since 1967.
Grinda likes the Bruins’ chances against Cal on
Saturday.
“The matchups aren’t bad, and we are still the only
undefeated team in the nation, so we can beat anyone,” Grinda
said. “We are confident against (Cal),”
Chris Sands is confident also. He desperately wants to play a
key role in the team that he captains. After compiling a 67-38
career singles record, he does not want what could be his last
chance to play for UCLA to end in disappointment. He also wants to
play a crowd-pleasing match, so that he can leave with
a bang.
“Since it is (against) Stanford, it should be a fun match.
I hope we put on a good show,” he said.
Sands lost two three-set matches to Stanford in a span of two
weeks last year. But he thinks the outcome will be different this
time.
“I am a completely different player from what I was last
year. I am in much better shape,” Sands said.