It’s one thing to lose.
It’s something completely different to lose when the play
is overshadowed by controversy.
The No. 7 UCLA men’s tennis team left Seattle on Saturday
as a 4-3 loser to No. 20 Washington, but the Bruins (16-5, 5-1
Pac-10) couldn’t help but feel that victory had been snatched
away by an overzealous umpire.
“It was a heartbreaker for us, especially the way it
ended,” UCLA coach Billy Martin said.
With the Bruins leading the match 3-2, there were two extremely
tight matches left to be decided on Courts No. 2 and No. 3.
Freshman Haythem Abid was the first Bruin to lose, falling 1-6,
7-5, 6-2 to Pierre Metenier after winning the first set. When his
match was over, Martin said that Abid “gingerly” tossed
his racket to his bag.
Throwing one’s racket can result in a point penalty, and
the umpire chose to rigidly enforce the rule. Because Abid’s
match was over, teammate Mathieu Dehaine was assessed the point
penalty on Court No. 3.
Unfortunately for Dehaine and the Bruins, it couldn’t have
come at a worse time.
Dehaine would have been serving at 5-5 in a third-set
tiebreaker. Instead, with the point penalty, his opponent was
serving for the match.
Washington’s Jean-Noel Insausti immediately capitalized on
the umpire’s call, serving out the match for a 4-6, 6-4,
7-6(5) victory. It was UCLA’s fifth 4-3 loss of the season,
and because of the circumstances, the most painful.
“We were pretty shocked it would end like that,”
Martin said. “It was pretty devastating. We were just so
close to having a chance to win.”
Martin said a number of people came up to him after the match
and said that the point penalty was a “rotten” call.
Martin said the other umpires told him the call was
“questionable.”
The Bruin coach felt it was a tough way to end such a close
match, especially after Dehaine had fought off a number of match
points to give himself a chance.
“It was really sad for him,” Martin said.
As has become their custom, the Bruins once again won the
doubles point on Saturday. The No. 4-ranked doubles team of Ben
Kohlloeffel and Philipp Gruendler won for the 19th consecutive
time, defeating Alex Slovic and Daniel Chu 8-3 at the No. 1
position.
Washington quickly answered back in singles, as Klaus Jank
posted a quick 6-4, 6-1 victory over Michael Look at No. 6.
Martin expressed disappointment over Look’s performance at
No. 6, because going into the match he felt the Bruin freshman had
a good chance to win.
Kohlloeffel, ranked No. 1 in the country in singles, was the
next to finish, posting a 6-0, 6-2 victory over No. 19 Slovic on
Court No. 1.
Chris Surapol won his match at No. 5 and Gruendler then lost at
No. 4 to set up the late drama.
“If he had thrown his racket in absolute distress, I would
understand,” Martin said. “But he just kind of gingerly
tossed it to his bag.”
Prior to their loss to Washington, the Bruins posted a 7-0
victory over Oregon on Friday, meaning the team still controls its
destiny in the conference standings.
If UCLA can defeat USC in its final regular season match on
Friday, the Bruins would clinch at least a share of the conference
title.