After months of waiting ““ months filled with playing and
preparation, the big day has finally arrived.
“We’re all excited,” said UCLA head coach
Billy Martin. “I want us to start from day one doing the
right things.”
The men’s tennis team opens its season today against UC
Irvine at 1:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The Bruins, who begin this season ranked No. 1 in the
Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason poll after finishing
last season with a No. 3 national ranking and a 23-5 record, are
raring to go.
But with first-match mirth comes first-match jitters.
“I think everybody’s a little nervous that first
match,” said Martin. “We haven’t played a dual
match since May. We’re going to be remembering what that
feeling is, remembering the difference between the team event
compared to the individual event.”
Junior Tobias Clemens, the No. 12 singles player in Division I,
has been here before. He knows how season-opening matches work.
“We’re going to be a little rusty, but as soon as we
get on the court, we’re going to be excited and have a good
match,” he said.
Even though the Anteaters are not in the preseason top 75, the
Bruins will approach the match just like a tough conference
match.
“These are dress rehearsals,” said Martin.
UCLA has an all-time record of 26-2 against UCI.
“I want it to be so when that tough match comes up,
we’ve done it and we know what is to be expected,” the
coach added.
The tough match will come. With the likes of conference foes and
national top-10 teams like Stanford, Cal and USC gunning for the
Bruins, these players will need to be rehearsed and ready.