Win No. 100 couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment
for Benjamin Kohlloeffel.
Looking to capture his second consecutive ITA National Indoors
title ““ only the third player to do so, and the first in over
a decade ““ Kohlloeffel executed and did everything necessary
to topple hometown favorite Steve Moneke of Ohio State by a score
of 6-0, 6-4 at the tournament in Columbus, Ohio.
But perhaps the tougher match was the one just before, in which
Kohlloeffel faced two match points against Oklahoma State’s
Ivan Puchkarov. The senior managed to remain poised and win the
match before winning the tournament in a fashion similar to his
first championship run in Columbus.
“He had a match similar to that in the semifinals against
(John) Isner of Georgia last year,” UCLA coach Billy Martin
said. “But he pulled it out in three sets and then went on to
win the final.”
But last year was different. He wasn’t coming off a
disappointing loss in the NCAA Regionals to a member of the team
that ousted the Bruins in the NCAA Championships the season
prior.
Needless to say, Kohlloeffel knew he would have his work cut out
for him if he wanted to see positive results at the National
Indoors.
“I saw a real increased intensity in his practice after
Regionals,” Martin said. “I think he realized he needed
to put in some more work. I think he did a really good job to
prepare for this tournament.”
Martin also noticed a sudden loss of some confidence, as the
senior was expected to win the Regionals at Pepperdine ““
especially after proving himself to be the best at the collegiate
level after winning the NCAA singles title last spring.
However, Kohlloeffel was able to look past that and triumph in
one of the most competitive tournaments. So close was the
competition that just two seeded players were able to advance into
the quarterfinals and one, Kohlloeffel, into the finals.
With the title run, he became the third player to defend his
title at Indoors, and the first since Sargis Sargsian in 1994 and
1995. Trinity’s Erick Iskersky also accomplished the feat in
1978 and 1979.
Last year’s title victory was the first ever by a Bruin at
the ITA National Indoors. This year’s win at the tournament
marks Kohlloeffel’s third national tournament title, and he
hopes to capture his fourth by winning the NCAA Championships for
the second consecutive year as well.
The next big tournament for the Bruins will come at the start of
2007, at the Sherwood Tournament hosted by the Sherwood Tennis
Club.
CHAMPIONSHIP LOOK: Sophomore Michael Look also
took home a championship trophy this weekend after defeating
teammate Mathieu Dehaine in an intense three-set match at the
Southern California Intercollegiate Championships at the Los
Angeles Tennis Club.
“I was surprised at how tough it was to play a
teammate,” Look said. “I went into the match a little
lackadaisical because it felt like it was kind of a practice
match.”
Look played so relaxed that he found himself down in a deep hole
serving at 2-6, 3-5, about to lose in yet another final of the
tournament after losing with partner Chris Surapol just a day
prior.
“That’s when the competitive spirit started to kick
in,” Look said. “I thought that if I could hold my
serve then maybe he would start to relax a bit and I could take
advantage of it, and that’s just what I did. I really wanted
to come back and just make a match of it.”