With its eyes set on hosting a regional in May’s NCAA Tournament, the men’s tennis team must use every opportunity to pick up wins over inferior competition.
This weekend presents two chances, as No. 15 UCLA (11-6, 2-0 Pac-12) hosts two of the Pac-12’s weakest teams, Arizona (8-13, 0-2) and Utah (10-8, 0-2).
Riding a three-game win streak, UCLA could generate some momentum before a tough stretch against Stanford, California and No. 7 USC, as well as the Pac-12 tournament in late April.
“There’s a lot still ahead of us, which is good,” said senior co-captain Dennis Mkrtchian. “But I think we’re in a good place, in a better place than I would say in February and March. … And I think the best is yet to come.”
Coach Billy Martin also said he saw room to grow.
“I’m just a little bit tired of having us making really simple mental errors out on the tennis court,” Martin said. “It’s one thing to get beat by your opponent with great shots, but to make silly, sloppy mental errors is really irritating to any coach in any sport. And we’ve been guilty of doing a lot of that. I don’t want to see that anymore, I think we should have outgrown that.”
The mental side of the game should be important this weekend, as the Bruins look to avoid a letdown against weaker opponents.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s Arizona and Utah or Oklahoma and Virginia and USC, we’ve got to respect each opponent like they’re the best,” Mkrtchian said. “We’re all good players – losing is not fun for anyone at any time against any opponent. I don’t think (we) need to be told that.”
Sophomore Joseph Di Giulio said the level of competition does not diminish the importance of this weekend’s matches.
“Everyone can play so it’s about getting the wins and just getting closer as a team,” Di Giulio said. “We kind of started off slow, so every win we can get for now is good, and we’ll build off of that.”
Friday’s match against Arizona will mark the first time Martin has had his full complement of players since February’s ITA Division I National Men’s Team Indoor Championship. Martin said he still has not decided between Di Giulio and freshman Austin Rapp as the No. 6 singles player going forward.
“I’m probably not going to have one person play both matches at six,” Martin said. “These guys are fighting for that. It’s not smart for me to have one guy play consistently and the other guy not play. Because we’re one injury away from having them both play.”
Martin said he may adjust the lineup to find playing time for both players.
“It might be smart for me to hold someone out in one of the matches so both of them get a chance to play,” Martin said. “These are not the strongest teams in the conference, teams where we can maybe afford to play around and make sure those guys are getting good tennis in.”