The UCLA men’s tennis team was doing anything but having but a week off this spring break.
After a rigorous week of training, the No. 11 Bruins (13-3, 2-0) opened up Pac-10 play with two wins at home against unranked Oregon (9-9, 0-2) on Friday and No. 30 Washington (12-4, 0-2) on Saturday.
The Bruins gave up just two singles matches during the weekend, resulting in a pair of 6-1 wins.
With only eight matches to determine who tops the Pac-10, the Bruins know from now on every point matters if they are to take their fourth straight conference title. The team has tied for first every year since 2004.
“(Pac-10 matches) make you more focused; there’s no room to slack off,” redshirt senior Chris Surapol said.
Surapol won two tough three-set matches against the teams from the Northwest, with Friday’s match ending in a 15-13 tiebreaker for the third set and Saturday’s match finishing 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
“Friday I had a horrible match so I was really disappointed,” Surapol said. “Saturday I was really focused on having a better attitude, stepping it up and playing better.”
The team started both days by securing the doubles point and keeping the momentum into singles. “We played good doubles, which got us off to a good start,” coach Billy Martin said. “I was really happy with that.”
After a convincing doubles win Friday, Martin decided to change the normal lineup, playing junior Jeremy Drean and redshirt junior Jaysen Chung on courts five and six in lieu of senior Philipp Gruendler and junior Mathieu Dehaine.
This was Chung’s first career dual match, which he won 6-4, 6-1 against Oregon’s Eric Pickard. Drean’s 6-2, 6-4 loss to Geoff Embry was UCLA’s only dropped match of the day.
Otherwise, Friday was a day of routine wins. No. 5 senior Benjamin Kohlloeffel quickly defeated Oregon’s unranked Marcos Verdasco 6-2, 6-0 on the top court, followed by a 6-3, 6-2 victory by sophomore Michael Look and a match-clinching win on court two by sophomore Haythem Abid.
Saturday’s match against nationally ranked Washington proved a bit more challenging ““ the Huskies defeated UCLA 4-3 in last season’s Pac-10 matchup.
Kohlloeffel won the fourth point to secure the win, but the action continued on court four with a three-set match between Gruendler and Washington’s Patrik Fischer ““ a familiar foe for Gruendler, who last faced Fischer during the summer. With the pressure off, Gruendler battled to a third-set tiebreaker, which he took 7-5.
“I knew I should beat him, which kept me going,” Gruendler said. He was also encouraged by UCLA’s already secured win. “All the guys are watching you and they’re having fun, so you have fun too.”
The two wins prove the Bruins’ extra spring training was worth the effort. Twice-a-day practices on the court, weight training, and extra cardio practice all went into the team’s preparations.
“We know when we start the Pac-10; it’s part of our game plan from the very beginning,” Martin said. “We get in better shape as the season goes along. There’s more pressure, (but) we have a great, experienced, mature group of guys.”
Not much can disrupt the seasoned team, which fell in the rankings from No. 8 to No. 11 during a 13-day break from match play. And even though Pac-10 matches are just beginning, one is already weighing heavily on their minds ““ an April 20 rematch against USC, who beat UCLA 6-1 on March 9 at Marks Tennis Stadium.
No. 9 USC mirrored UCLA’s weekend, beating both Washington and Oregon 7-0. With both teams playing unstoppable tennis, the final match of the season may determine who wins the Pac-10 title.
“It’s going to come down to competing hard, playing well,” Martin said. “There’s no secrecy about it ““ we have to play well.”