M. tennis: Surprise, Surprise

Freshman Philipp Gruendler diligently wrote e-mail after e-mail
to UCLA men’s tennis coach Billy Martin throughout the entire
summer, but he continued to get the same response ““ none at
all.

After the German native had essentially given up all hope of
ever joining the Bruins, a shocking development took place. At the
beginning of October 2003, Gruendler received the e-mail that he
had stopped letting himself wish for ““ an invitation from
Martin to come to Westwood and join the team.

“I always heard the UCLA athletic program was really good,
and if you have the chance to go there, you have to do it,”
Gruendler said.

Only through a fortuitous sequence of events did Gruendler
ultimately get his opportunity. In the beginning, there was simply
no reason for Martin to be interested. He had secured the
commitment of Robert Yim, the top junior player in the country, and
he had no open spots for the coming season.

But then Yim decided to turn pro, forcing the Bruins to scramble
for a replacement.

Fortunately for Martin and the rest of the team, there was
Gruendler, who has since been instrumental in catapulting UCLA to a
No. 3 national ranking.

“He’s done a great job for us,” Martin
said.

But the road to Westwood wasn’t easy.

Because he only found out in October 2003 that he could come to
UCLA, Gruendler did not have the luxury of preparing for college
over the summer. Finding out that Martin wanted him on the team was
only the first obstacle he had to surmount on his way to attending
UCLA.

In the span of less than two months, he had to fulfill all of
the academic requirements needed to attend a UC school.

“I was driving every weekend to Frankfurt, which is like
300 miles, taking tests and filling out (forms),” Gruendler
said.

He also flew out to Florida to take the SATs so that the scores
could be processed in time.

The scramble to meet deadlines consumed all of Gruendler’s
time during those two months, and he was unable to train for the
upcoming season. He had not been on the courts throughout the
summer, either, because of a chronic back injury. Thus, when
Martin and his new teammates saw him play for the first time in
January, he had not played tennis in nearly four months.

“I totally lost my shape,” Gruendler said. “I
came here in January and I hit and I was like, “˜Who is this
guy? That’s not me.'”

Not only was he embarrassed for himself, but he felt he was
misrepresenting his friend and now-teammate Luben Pampoulov. The
two young men had grown up playing tennis together in Germany. When
Pampoulov left for UCLA, they kept in contact, and it was Pampoulov
who both encouraged Gruendler to pursue UCLA and Martin to consider
him.

“Luben told (Martin) I’m a really good player, and I
played very poorly,” Gruendler said.

Though he had less than a month to practice before the first
match of the season against UC Irvine, Gruendler won without a
problem and had much success in the Bruins’ early season
matches.

But against USC on March 2, it was a different story. Gruendler
played terribly and lost 6-1, 6-2 to Ruben Torres.

“It was like throwing me into cold water at the USC
match,” Gruendler said.

Thankfully, that cold water has done the trick.

Gruendler has gone unbeaten in dual matches since the loss to
Torres, generally overwhelming his opponents in the
process. He has certainly earned the faith of his doubles
partner, Pampoulov, especially after the pair won the Pac-10
doubles title together at the Ojai Invitational.

“We both play doubles like it is supposed to be played
““ aggressively,” Pampoulov said. “I know that if
we play our best, we can beat anybody.”

That’s not a bad analysis for a guy who was not even
supposed to be on the team.

Since moving from No. 5 to No. 6 in the lineup after Pampoulov
became eligible in April, Gruendler has often been the first player
on the Bruins to finish his matches. That’s because Gruendler
has been much more talented than the No. 6 player on opposing
teams.

“That’s a real strength for us right now,”
Martin said. “We have a strong, strong No. 6 man.”

While playing Cal, Gruendler became so frustrated at the poor
quality of his opponent that he yelled, “This guy is wasting
my time” while on court. Gruendler later described him as
“a bunny.”

“I would like to play higher, and I think I could play
higher,” Gruendler said. “But it is not possible this
year. We have a really good team.”

It is this team-oriented mentality that has impressed
Martin.

“A lot of people come and think, “˜I am going to play
one or two,'” Martin said. “In Philipp’s
case he’s played a little lower in the lineup with no problem
whatsoever.”

Even more important, perhaps, is what Gruendler will bring to
the Bruins in the long run. While Yim would likely have stuck
around for only one season, Gruendler will be a key contributor for
years to come.

And it all happened by lucky chance.

It’s certainly been a long road for Gruendler, who less
than a year ago was seated at his computer in Germany, sending
e-mails. Later this month, he’ll be on the tennis courts of
America, helping UCLA pursue a national championship that has
proven elusive since 1984.

“I just want to win with the team and have the most
success we can have,” Gruendler said. “I think Coach
has been waiting for it a long time.”

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