The 2008-2009 academic year was indeed a difficult one in the world of UCLA men’s athletics, but one squad that certainly lived up to their reputation and exceeded expectations was the UCLA men’s tennis team.
After handily winning their first six matches of the season, including a win over ranked Illinois squad on the Fighting Illini’s home court, the Bruins hit a rough patch, losing four of their next five matches to a group of teams they would surely meet again come NCAA Championships.
After those four losses, the last one coming on Feb. 28, the Bruins went on a run for the ages, reeling off 14 consecutive victories before being edged by Ohio State in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships.
“I think we overcame a lot of obstacles this year, and when the year began I really thought we had a chance to be an NCAA Championship team,” coach Billy Martin said.
During the winning streak, UCLA accumulated impressive victories over several ranked opponents including Stanford, California, Pepperdine, Mississippi and rival USC, which the Bruins defeated twice.
The streak was even more significant because the Bruins were forced to deal with nagging injuries to some of their top players all throughout the season.
Senior leader Harel Srugo and sophomore standout Holden Seguso both suffered hand injuries early in the season that lingered until the end.
In addition, the team’s top player, redshirt junior Haythem Abid, sprained his ankle midway through the season and was forced to play hobbled in several matches.
Despite the injuries, UCLA concluded their regular season undefeated in Pac-10 play and won what was formerly their sixth-straight Pac-10 title. The NCAA stripped the Bruins of their 2008 Pac-10 title due to compliance issues of an unnamed Bruin.
Regardless, in a competitive conference like the Pac-10, five titles in six years proves impressive.
“I think we did a great job in winning the Pac-10 this year, and we came so close to making the NCAA Finals,” Martin said. “After a great win over that Mississippi team, I felt we were about a point away from beating Ohio State.”
As Martin stated, the Bruins came up one win shy of reaching the NCAA final after a devastating loss to the No. 3 Buckeyes.
Just two days before the heartbreak, the Bruins upset the No. 2 Mississippi Rebels in what was undoubtedly their biggest win of the season. However, UCLA simply did not have enough gas in the tank to have a repeat performance.
Regardless of the loss, Martin is proud of the way his team persevered and lived up to the reputation of the program.
“I told the guys they have to put their heart and soul on the line with a chance of suffering a huge disappointment, because if you don’t, then you have no chance at all,” Martin said.
“I think they did a really good job at that, and I’m really proud of them. I think we represented UCLA very, very well,” he added.
With Seguso, Abid and junior Matt Brooklyn, among others, all set to return next season, Martin anticipates an even greater level of success in 2010.
“We have an incredibly good group of core guys coming back next year,” Martin said. “I feel confident we will have a team that can compete with anybody in the country.”