Apparently a National Championship trophy, a No. 1 ranking to
finish the 2006 season, and back-to-back NCAA Indoors Championship
titles don’t fit anywhere in the formula that is used to
generate collegiate men’s tennis rankings.
When the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings were released Jan. 9,
Bruin senior Benjamin Kohlloeffel found himself in the No. 5
position behind names that are all too familiar for the German
native: Steven Moneke, John Isner, Ivan Puchkarov and Todd
Paul.
Kohlloeffel has successfully gone up against all four of the
players in front of him, with his most recent tournament title
coming with a win over No. 1 Moneke in a 6-0, 6-4 outing at the ITA
National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.
“I guess that didn’t show much respect for him
winning the NCAA Championships and already winning the National
Indoors,” coach Billy Martin said. “Especially since
the guy he beat pretty easily in the finals is No. 1
now.”
For the UCLA senior, though, his individual ranking means very
little to him while he is competing in the dual match season.
“Individual rankings don’t matter anymore,”
Kohlloeffel said. “Until mid-May, only the team rankings
really count.”
The computerized rankings take into consideration wins
accumulated during the fall season. Results of last year have no
bearing, as is apparent from Kohlloeffel’s surprising No. 5
rank.
“I was a little shocked, quite honestly,” Martin
said after seeing his top player’s seed. “He
didn’t play a lot during the fall so I guess that could be a
reason for the ranking.”
While Kohlloeffel accumulated an 8-1 record during the fall,
losing only to Pepperdine’s Andre Begemann in the
quarterfinals of the ITA West Regional Championships, the top four
seeds all played at least 13 matches, while Moneke went 15-3.
Martin realizes, however, that the ranking will likely push the
senior to show what he is truly capable of, even though Kohlloeffel
feels he has nothing to prove and hopes to help guide his team to
the NCAA Championships this season.
“If I’m (No.) 1, 10, 5, 100, it doesn’t really
matter,” Kohlloeffel said. “I think people know I can
play a little bit.”
The No. 5 ranking is the lowest Kohlloeffel has held since June
3, 2005 when he was ranked No. 9 in the final rankings of the 2005
season.
However, the senior is unaffected by how the ranking system
placed him heading into this weekend’s tournament at Indian
Wells, where he hopes to defend his title and earn yet another wild
card bid into the Super Nine Series pro tournament.
“It’s not frustrating at all (that I’ve beaten
everyone ranked above me),” Kohlloeffel said. “I
don’t know how it works, and it really doesn’t matter
to me.”
Moreover, he, along with the rest of his teammates, realize what
the UCLA squad is capable of accomplishing this season as a
team.
Only Kohlloeffel and fellow German and senior Philipp Gruendler
were part of the singles lineup when the Bruins captured the NCAA
title in 2005, the team’s first since 1984, and understand
what it will take to make it there once again.
“We played well last year and we were fighting
hard,” Kohlloeffel said. “I’ve prepared well over
the fall and that’s all that matters.
“I just want to help the team as much as
possible.”