It appears that an ominous trend is developing for the UCLA men’s tennis team and yesterday, it almost caught up with them.
No. 4 UCLA was surprised by San Diego State, which took two of the three doubles matches to grab the doubles point. It was the second straight match that the Bruins had spotted their opponents an early lead, but thanks to a persistent singles attack they pulled out the 5-2 victory.
“(The Aztecs) certainly looked like they were ready to compete,” coach Billy Martin said. “I was not happy with our team, especially in doubles, and that usually sets the tone. We lose the doubles point, they feel they have a chance and that gave them a little more juice. We just came out flat.”
UCLA (5-0) was saved by two dominant performances on the singles court by redshirt junior Haythem Abid on the first court and sophomore Amit Inbar on the sixth. Despite an 8-5 loss that those two Bruins suffered together in the first court doubles, they both came out swinging in their singles matches to regain the team lead at 2-1.
“Abid really led us by stepping up, just really looking like he was winning quite easily right away,” Martin said. “Amit did the same, but we were in dogfights in all the other matches.”
It would be at least an hour before any of the other courts finished, as three of the final four singles matches went to a third set. Despite a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory by senior Michael Look at the No. 4 spot, senior Harel Srugo lost in a tiebreaker 3-6, 6-7, just seconds later to keep the entire Los Angeles Tennis Center on edge once again.
The clinching win finally came on Court 5 as sophomore Nick Meister pulled out the come-from-behind win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. In the final match, junior Matt Brooklyn won a three set marathon, which included tiebreakers in the final two sets. Overall, there was an air of desperation as No. 58 San Diego State (1-3) could sense the proximity of an upset all day, stemming from the early doubles loss.
“We had the same scenario last week,” Abid said. “This is not the first time we’ve lost the doubles point. Everybody’s got to think to win their singles match. That’s how you’re supposed to do it: Forget about the doubles point and focus on your own court and don’t expect the other guy to do it for you.”
The Bruins showed a determination, but for a team with such high expectations, it was a shock to be taken to the limit by such an underdog opponent.
“It really could have gone either way today,” Martin said. “Luckily, we won it, but I’ve got to be honest: I wasn’t happy with our performance at all.”