The team looks completely different from the one that won the
national championship a year ago.
But so far, the UCLA men’s tennis team has gotten the same
results, easily winning against Brigham Young on Wednesday, 6-1, at
the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Only one player in UCLA’s singles lineup Wednesday started
for that championship team, and two of the starters were playing
their first match this season for UCLA (2-0).
Freshman Michael Look made his Bruin debut and beat Ivan Kokurin
at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-2.
“I was very happy,” Look said. “I went into
the match a bit nervous but I started out really well, got an early
break, got out to a 3-0 lead and just basically held that level of
play the rest of the match.”
Look showed no signs of jitters on the court and took advantage
of his chance to play against BYU.
“I was surprised,” Look said. “I approached it
like a normal match, and I actually got more nervous when I was up
3-0 in the first set.”
The other UCLA player making his singles season debut was junior
Aaron Yovan, who played what was by far the closest and most
grueling match of the day.
Yovan lost his first set against Jose Luis Lechuga 7-5 before
rebounding to win the second set 7-5, which set up a shortened
third-set tiebreaker. This type of tiebreaker is used in college
tennis when a third set is required but the dual match has already
been decided.
Yovan lost the first four points, won the next eight, and had
three match points before losing 12-10.
“He looked bad, he looked good, but that’s how
college tennis is. It’s a bit of a roller coaster,”
UCLA coach Billy Martin said. “You can never let up or feel
too secure. It’s good to get through those matches.
You’d rather win those than lose those, but they’re
helpful in the long run.”
No. 1 starter Benjamin Kohlloeffel was in the same situation
during the team’s first match of the season on Jan. 20, and
also lost.
“Since you’ve already won, the other guy has nothing
to lose,” Kohlloeffel said. “It’s a tough
situation. It’s tough to keep your focus.”
Kohlloeffel didn’t have to worry about that Wednesday, as
he quickly beat James Ludlow 6-2, 6-3.
“It wasn’t my best tennis. But that’s the way
it is,” Kohlloeffel said. “I took care of business. You
can’t play great every time.”
Freshman and No. 2 starter Haythem Abid won his match 6-4, 6-4
over BYU’s Christian Hand.
“I was really happy with Abid,” Martin said.
“It’s his second match, he’s looking pretty good.
He’s looking very relaxed and he’s able to play his
game.”
In the other singles matches, UCLA’s Mathieu Dehaine won
6-3, 6-4 over Dominik Kaufhold and Jeremy Drean beat Jonathan
Sanchez 6-0, 6-2. The Bruins also won the doubles point.
Friday, No. 5 UCLA hosts Boise State at 1:30 p.m. at the Los
Angeles Tennis Center.
“We have a really tough match coming up on Friday,”
Martin said. “(Positions) one through three they’re
really going to be pushing our guys in singles. Not that four
through six is any weaker, but I think we’re definitely going
to need to raise our level for Friday if we want to come away with
a win.”
Boise State, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, features Luke
Shields, who lost to Kohlloeffel last year in the Round of 16 of
the NCAA Individual Tournament.