Tobias Clemens came into Friday’s men’s tennis match
against Ohio State in an unfamiliar role ““ that of the
underdog.Â
He emerged as the top dog, however, stifling the nation’s
No. 7 player, Jeremy Wurtzman, and leading the No. 1 Bruins (6-0)
to a decisive 5-2 victory in the process.
Friday’s match wasn’t the usual breeze for this
Bruin squad, as No. 24 Ohio State (5-1) almost gave it more than it
could handle.
“I really thought we had a tough one today,” UCLA
head coach Billy Martin said, “Luckily we pulled it
out.”
The team struggled to win the doubles point, with Clemens and
Lassi Ketola beating Wurtzman and Scott Green at No. 1, 8-5, and
Erfan Djahangiri and Alberto Francis defeating Conor Casey and
Dennis Mertens at No. 2, 8-4.
In singles, Ketola and Djahangiri got quick wins at No. 5 and
No. 3, respectively. Ketola downed Casey 6-2, 6-0, while
Djahangiri defeated Mertens, also 6-2, 6-0.
With those wins on the board, the Bruins were up 3-0, and it
looked as if the rout was on.
“Singles we started off looking like it was pretty
easy,” Martin said. “But all of a sudden the complexity
of the match changed a little bit.”
Rodrigo Grilli was losing at No. 2, and Chris Surapol was behind
at No. 6. On the No. 4 court, Chris Lam won the first set, but
he was being challenged in the second.
So, it came down to Clemens and Wurtzman, the No. 1 Bruin
against the No. 1 Buckeye. Looking to rebound from his first loss
of the season to USC’s Prakash Amritraj, Clemens didn’t
disappoint.
He came out as a man on a mission, breaking Wurtzman’s
serve three times in the first set en route to a 6-0 victory.
“I was showing him that I might be lower ranked,”
the No. 12 Clemens said, “but I can kick your
(expletive).”
But a player of Wurtzman’s caliber doesn’t stay down
the whole match.
Down 2-0 and one point away from going down 3-0, Wurtzman
battled back. He broke Clemens’ serve, and he broke him again
to go up 4-3. Down 5-4 with Wurtzman serving for the set,
Clemens’ back was to the wall.
He battled hard, broke Wurtzman, and forced a
tiebreaker.Â
Clemens continued his brilliant play through the tiebreaker, and
won the match, 6-0, 7-6 (4).
“I stayed tough mentally and I thought I played really
well,” Clemens said.
The win clinched the victory for his team.
“Since I lost against ‘SC last week, and now one
week later I was the one who decided the match, it felt
good,” he said.
Though Ketola’s win wasn’t the fourth point, it was
just as important. Making a habit of quickly ousting his opponents,
Ketola enjoys the role of spectator.Â
“I don’t get to see the front courts if I
don’t finish quick, so I need to do it fast,” he
said.
In the last match of the day, Lam defeated Kevin McLean 6-3,
2-6, 6-2.
Grilli and Surapol struggled all day, as the Buckeyes’
Vince Ng and Brenton Contini defeated the pair 8-6.
In singles, Ng defeated Grilli 7-6(4), 6-2 and Contini beat
Surapol 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
Small losses aside, the team win had Martin pleased.
“We got a win and found a way,” he
said. “Those are character builders.”