The third time was the charm for Tobias Clemens.
But then again, so was the first and the second.
Clemens, the No. 12 player in the country, won the Sherwood
Collegiate Cup for the third consecutive year, this time coming
from behind to defeat teammate Kris Kwinta, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, in
Monday’s final. With the victory, Clemens has now won 15
straight matches at Sherwood.
But this one wasn’t easy ““ and Clemens hardly thinks
he deserves to be called a champion.
The Bruin senior said he came out “flat as a
pancake” and was lucky to secure a break of Kwinta in the
second set after losing the first. Though he was able to hang on
for the victory, the team-oriented Clemens continued to harp on
Kwinta’s solid tournament, and the fact that the junior
transfer from Tennessee deserved to win.
“I would have loved to see Kris play well and kick my ass
the way I deserved it,” Clemens said.
“I feel kind of bad for Kris,” he added. “I
hope he can still see that he played really well this
weekend.”
Though Clemens emerged as the victor, Kwinta was probably the
story of the tournament, especially in the eyes of UCLA coach Billy
Martin.
“Kwinta probably had the best result of anyone,”
Martin said.
He was arguably most impressive with his second-round singles
result, a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory over Baylor’s Benjamin Becker,
the No. 5 player in the country.
The singles portion of the tournament was utterly dominated by
Bruins, as Alberto Francis joined Clemens and Kwinta in the
semifinals before being dispatched by the eventual champion.
And however happy Martin was with his team’s early-season
performance in the singles draw, he may have been even more pleased
with his No. 1 doubles pair.
Kwinta and Francis teamed to secure the championship in the
doubles draw, defeating California’s Patrick Briaud and
Balazs Veress 8-5 in Monday’s final.
“I’ve seen them play some good doubles, but they
really pepped it up a bit,” Martin said.
All told, this UCLA team will be able to look back with pride at
a weekend that saw the emergence of Kwinta, proof that the No. 1
doubles team is more than legitimate, and continued support that
Clemens is one of the best players in the country, as well as a
proven winner.
“We always love this tournament, and to do as well as we
did makes it extra extra special,” Martin said.