Tobias Clemens whirled around in a circle like a playful little
puppy chasing his tail. The Bruin senior was attempting to steal a
glance at his back because he was searching for a troublesome
monkey.
Strange, but somewhat understandable.
That’s because Clemens wasn’t looking for just any
old monkey. He was searching for the creature that continues to
haunt the UCLA men’s tennis team in the NCAA Tournament,
which begins in earnest Saturday when the Bruins face Texas A&M
in the Round of 16.
Not since 1984 has UCLA won a national championship, despite
numerous appearances in the semifinals and finals. Last season the
Bruins failed to make the championship even though they had two
match points that would have sent them through.
This trend pretty much typifies the past two decades, and every
year the heartbreak gets a little tougher to endure.
“It would be nice to get that monkey off our back, no
doubt about it,” coach Billy Martin said. “It’s
certainly one of my goals personally, to win at least one
championship.”
Clemens, the team’s only senior, has the same goal. And
after his thorough search, he concluded that there was no monkey.
But though there was no living, breathing creature clinging to the
All-American, the facts are difficult to deny.
There have been many years since 1984 when UCLA was good enough
to win a national title, but the Bruins simply haven’t done
it.
In Clemens’ three previous NCAA Tournament appearances,
UCLA has made it to the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals
once. Two of those matches were 4-3 heartbreakers. The other was a
4-2 loss.
“It would just be nice to have one great moment to
outweigh all the disappointing losses,” Clemens said.
Is this the year the team can do it? The players don’t see
why not, especially because Clemens is the team’s only real
veteran. Because so many have not experienced the NCAA Tournament
before, they don’t truly understand the drought UCLA is going
through.
“In 1984, I was 1 year old,” freshman Philipp
Gruendler said. “I just want to live in the present and win
it as a team this year. We’ll all do our best to do
that.”
Junior Kris Kwinta said he has done a lot of thinking about
UCLA’s inability to take home a championship, but he has a
good feeling about this team and this season.
“Right now everybody is awaiting the moment to be able to
bring the ring back home,” Kwinta said. “Now’s
the time.”
Living in the present seems to be a common theme for the
fourth-seeded Bruins (20-5). And presently, the road to the title
begins with Texas A&M.
The No. 24 Aggies (24-8) upset 13th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth
to secure a spot in the Sweet 16. Texas A&M and UCLA are the
only teams that have advanced past the second round in each of the
last five seasons.
“We know they’re a very good team,” Martin
said.
Texas A&M has won 13 of its last 15, and is probably as
tough as any team in the country at the top of the lineup. Lester
Cook, who plays No. 1 singles, is ranked 13th in the nation, while
the Aggies’ No. 2 player, Ante Matijevic, is ranked 32nd.
Together, Cook and Matijevic comprise the nation’s
second-ranked doubles team.
“We’ll be challenged as much as anybody at those
spots,” Martin said.
The stiffest test will come for Kwinta and doubles partner
Alberto Francis. Kwinta and Francis are ranked No. 7, but the pair
is coming off a doubles loss against Pepperdine. Saturday presents
the chance for redemption.
“That’s what excites me,” Kwinta said.
“I like challenges, and I will try to prove a point. We can
beat anyone, and that’s what we’re going to try to
do.”
That’s what the entire team will try to do, and all signs
seem to indicate that UCLA’s best should be good enough to
advance. The Bruins have won 11 in a row, and they haven’t
lost since Luben Pampoulov joined the starting lineup in April.
“I know that when I play my best, it is very hard for
anybody to beat me,” Pampoulov said. “The most
important thing is that I can keep it up consistently.”
Starting Saturday, consistency will be the name of the game. If
UCLA wants to have a chance to shake the monkey, the Bruins will
have to play solid tennis for four consecutive days. And the third
of those four days would likely pit them against defending-champion
and undefeated Illinois.
But that’s the future. And the past is, well, not exactly
favorable. UCLA has advanced to the Sweet 16 every year since the
team format was adopted in 1977, but that national title continues
to prove elusive for Martin, now in his 11th season as coach.
“I’m certainly proud of what we’ve
accomplished all these other years,” Martin said.
“Besides winning it, I think we’ve done everything else
possible.”
This is the year when Martin would like to drop the qualifier.
And yet again, there’s a chance.
“I think they have as good a chance as any team I’ve
ever coached,” he said.
But at the season’s beginning, Clemens said he was through
talking about chances. He’s seen too many golden
opportunities turn sour in his career. And now, as the senior
stands on the brink of his final chance, he remains firm.
“The biggest opponent right now is Texas A&M,”
Clemens said. “Not history, no monkey, just Texas
A&M.”
After all, it’s tournament time. And that’s no time
to monkey around.