PALO ALTO “”mdash; The UCLA men’s tennis team looks to
retaliate on Sunday as they take on No. 2-seeded Pepperdine after a
Bruin upset over the No. 7 Illinois Fighting Illini on
Saturday.
The Waves are no strangers to the Bruins, as the two teams
engaged earlier this season on the courts of the Los Angeles Tennis
Center in what turned out to be a showdown.
UCLA had its 28-match home winning streak snapped in a 4-3
decision that came down to the wire with a No. 3 matchup of
sophomore Mathieu Dehaine pitted against Ivor Lovrak deciding the
outcome of the match.
But that was then and this is now.
The Bruins were playing without junior Philipp Gruendler in the
singles lineup. And on Saturday, Gruendler answered any doubts
about his singles play this season with a convincing 6-3, 6-2
victory over the nation’s No. 68 player, Illinois’ Ryan
Rowe.
“We lost to them earlier this season, but we were down
Philipp and it was 7-6 in third set on Mathieu’s
court,” freshman Michael Look said. “With a bit of
luck, it should hopefully go our way.”
Also, when the Bruins took on the Waves in their last matchup,
it was with a different No. 3 doubles team.
In that match, UCLA played with Dehaine and junior Aaron Yovan
at the spot, but UCLA coach Billy Martin has found the tandem of
Dehaine and Jeremy Drean to be more effective, as they showed on
Saturday by overcoming an early deficit to capture the doubles
point, 9-8.
“We have a good chance to get the win against them,”
Drean said. “We want our revenge.”
The Pepperdine team has been on a roll since its win over the
Bruins, winning 23 of its past 25 matches, its only losses coming
to No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Texas.
The match could be forced to move to indoor courts in San
Francisco, however, if the weather becomes unfriendly.
As the tournament officials were forced to do on Friday with the
women’s quarterfinals matches due to rain, Sunday’s
matches may be moved to San Francisco as well.
“If it goes indoors, neither of us will be better off
because we are both outdoor teams,” Drean said.
On Saturday, the Waves faced off against Florida, winning in
dominating fashion, 4-0.
Similar to last year’s tournament, the Bruins have faced
higher seeds, and they must once again pull the upsets to match
last season’s improbable title run.
“I think Coach will settle us down after
(Saturday’s) big win and have us focus on tomorrow’s
match,” Look said.
The winner of Sunday’s match will face either Ohio State
or Texas in the semifinals on Monday.
“I’m excited,” Look said.