The greatest rivalry in the history of men’s college
tennis added another chapter this season. The retirement of
Stanford coaching legend Dick Gould, a man who guided the Cardinal
to 17 national titles in 38 years, opened the door for former
Stanford assistant coach John Whitlinger to take the reins of the
program. Whitlinger’s promotion signals another phase of a
tennis rivalry that has lasted for three decades. It started on the
tennis courts of Chicago, when a young Whitlinger was mopping the
courts with a young Billy Martin, now the UCLA men’s tennis
coach. The men played against each other in juniors, in college,
and now they face off as head coaches for two of the most
prestigious men’s tennis programs of all time. The No. 6
Bruins (19-2, 4-0 Pac-10) face Cal (8-9, 2-2 Pac-10) today before
Martin and Whitlinger meet once again on Saturday.
“We’ve battled since we were 10 years old,”
Martin said. “He kicked the crap out of me when I was young.
My first few times I ever beat him was when I played at UCLA and he
played at Stanford.” Whitlinger was the NCAA singles and
doubles champion at Stanford in 1974. Martin won the singles title
at UCLA in 1975. After each man finished his professional playing
career, they moved to the coaching ranks, each learning from the
best. Martin was the assistant coach to Glenn Bassett at UCLA for
10 years before assuming the head coaching position in 1993.
Whitlinger worked under Gould for 18 years before becoming the head
coach this season. “We’ve seen each other throughout
our whole lives,” Martin said. “I have a lot of respect
for John as a player and as a coach.” And Martin understands
the pressures Whitlinger is likely experiencing right now.
Eighteenth-ranked Stanford (11-7, 3-1) has struggled a bit this
season, finding themselves lower in the rankings than the
prestigious program is used to. “It’s a little bit
tougher, because you used to have that other guy there that had so
much knowledge,” Martin said. “It’s not
frightening, but it’s like going into war without your best
sidekick. I kind of have a feeling for what he’s going
through.”
CAL AND STANFORD: These two matches hold important ramifications
for the Bruins in their quest for a Pac-10 title. At 4-0, UCLA sits
atop the conference standings, and a sweep in the Bay Area would
clinch the Bruins at least a share of the conference championship.
The Bruins’ final regular season match is April 15 against
USC at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. “These are the last
three regular season matches of my career, so it’s pretty
exciting,” senior Alberto Francis said. “We’ve
won the last three years at Stanford, so it’d be nice to
finish it off with four in a row.” UCLA beat Stanford 4-3 at
home on Feb. 25. The Bruins beat No. 35 Cal 7-0 on Feb. 26.
BRUINS IN THE RANKINGS: Five Bruins are ranked in the top 75 in
the national rankings. Luben Pampoulov (No. 7) and Benjamin
Kohlloeffel (No. 8) are the only set of teammates ranked in the top
10, while Kris Kwinta (No. 48), Philipp Gruendler (No. 66) and
Francis (No. 73) complete the list.