It was one of the most anticipated matches of the year for the
UCLA men’s tennis team. But in what has become a common
result for the Bruins against the best competition this season, the
team fell just short.
This time, it was the No. 3 doubles team of Aaron Yovan and
Mathieu Dehaine that let the Bruins down.
No. 6 UCLA battled valiantly, but Yovan and Dehaine gave away a
4-1 lead in the final doubles game and lost 9-7 to result in an
overall 4-3 loss to No. 7 Baylor.
“It hurts. It really hurts,” UCLA coach Billy Martin
said.
When single matches moved ahead of doubles matches in
anticipation of rainy weather, the Bruins went straight to business
against the Bears. UCLA’s No. 3 sophomore Mathieu Dehaine
defeated Baylor’s Will Ward 6-3, 6-4 and No. 1 junior
Benjamin Kohlloeffel quickly followed his path, defeating Matija
Zgaga by the same score.
“I was really motivated and it would have been incredible
to beat them once again.” Dehaine said.
The Bears quickly came back, however, as Baylor’s Michael
Kokta defeated UCLA junior Phillip Gruendler in the No. 4 singles
match and Jon Reckeway defeated freshman Michael Look in the No. 6
match.
After the No. 2 singles point went to Baylor’s No. 5 Lars
Poerschke, who defeated freshman Haythem Abid 6-3, 4-6 6-4, the
Bruins needed Chris Surapol to win his match to force a 3-3 tie and
have a shot to win the match in doubles play. Surapol delivered,
defeating Matt Brown 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in a match that lasted over two
hours.
“My plan is always to tire my opponent out, but for this
match, I was closer than ever before to falling before him,”
Surapol said.
Ten minutes later, all the action had moved to center courts.
With both teams tied at 3-3, it was the same rivalry, same score,
and same night atmosphere than previous years, just different
players.
Gruendler and Kohlloeffel displayed their usual strong play from
the No. 1 doubles spot, winning their match 8-4. In the No. 2
match, Chris Surapol and Haythem Abid jumped out to an early 4-3
lead, but the two Bruins let the match slip away, losing 8-5.
“After my single’s match, I could not feel my body
anymore, I was close to cramping,” Surapol said. “I
really played with the help of Abid and adrenaline.”
And so it all came down to the No. 3 doubles pair Dehaine and
Yovan, who have had moments of glory against the toughest opponents
throughout the season, but have also fell at times when victory was
well at reach. The latter happened on Saturday night.
After jumping out to a 4-1 lead, Dehaine and Yovan let the lead
slip away to Baylor’s David Galic and Will Ward. Galic and
Ward won the match 9-7, sealing the match for the Bears.
“I don’t really know what happened,” Dehaine
said. “We had opportunities and we were ahead, but we just
did not deliver.”
The promise of great tennis was met on Saturday, but the Bruins
fell by a 4-3 score for the fourth time this season. It was the
third time the Bruins have lost 4-3 to a top-10 team.
“With those kind of matches, things can really go either
way,” Surapol said. “But what we really want to do is
be ready for the NCAA championships. And so it hurts, but we can
live with it.”