Poised to stop a skid of three straight losses, the injury-plagued UCLA men’s tennis team will be forced to face some tough competition this weekend. The Bruins will look to start the Pac-10 season strongly with matches against No. 23 Cal on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and No. 5 Stanford on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“It’s going to be a tough weekend for us,” coach Billy Martin said. “We’re not going to be at full strength, there’s no doubt about it. So we’re just going to have to try and be scrappy and somehow try to pull out a win.”
UCLA will face a significant challenge as both the upcoming opponents have strong lineups this year, with Stanford featuring No. 13 nationally ranked singles player Alex Clayton. Additionally, both teams are accustomed to competing for the Pac-10 title and will be looking to start the season with wins. Both of the Bruins’ weekend opponents are ranked in the top 25 nationally, and Stanford recently reached the semi-finals at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships ““ one round farther than where the Bruins’ run ended.
“We’ve got to be concerned with Cal, first of all, not looking too far ahead to Stanford,” Martin said. “We’re in no position to be discounting Cal as an easier team. Right now, with us depleted a little bit, every match is going to be tough for us.”
Missing lineup regulars sophomore Holden Seguso and senior Harel Srugo has certainly affected the team. Both players will be unable to play this weekend. However, in last week’s loss at No. 12 Baylor, sophomore Ahmed Ismail filled in with a win at No. 6 singles.
“We only have one guy filling in; that was (Ismail) as far as singles,” Martin said. “He won his match, so I was pretty happy about that.”
Normally the first guy to fill in for the lineup, Ismail has to be ready to play at any moment and this preparation helped against Baylor.
“Being in my position, number 7 guy, I just have to be ready every match no matter what the situation is,” Ismail said. “At Baylor it was even worse ““ Harel wasn’t even traveling. I knew I would have to be ready … just the work I’ve been doing and everything, just being ready, paid off.”
Relying on the team’s depth and chemistry will be critical to attaining victory.
“I feel more comfortable on the court being with my teammates out there,” Ismail said. “I’ll probably feel more comfortable at home than I did away, so let’s just hope it turns out well.”