Men’s tennis rides out Waves
No. 4 UCLA holds off No. 5 Pepperdine, 4-3, in thriller on
Tuesday
By Mark Singerton
Victory could not have been any sweeter for the UCLA men’s
tennis team as they survived a 4-3 battle against Pepperdine
Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The match lived up to the hype. The Waves came into the contest
ranked fifth in the country, and UCLA was fourth. Bruin head coach
Billy Martin didn’t know what to expect.
"I had no idea how it was going to go," Martin said. "I was
hoping it would be close."
The Bruins got off to a slow start by losing the doubles
competition. Pepperdine tandem Chris Hill and Michael Jessup edged
UCLA’s Eric Taino and Justin Gimelstob. Sophomore Loren Peters and
senior Robert Janecek dropped their match, 8-6. The doubles loss
was the first for the Bruins this season.
Then, UCLA came to life, pulling off two crucial third-set
victories in the singles competition, including Justin Gimelstob’s
6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win over the Waves’ Brad Sceney.
"It was one hell of a win for us," Martin said. "For (Gimelstob)
to go in there in only his second match of the year and pull it out
was fantastic."
In the other three-set match, Taino outlasted Pepperdine’s Hill
6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
"I think we just had the will to win today," Martin said. "When
things get that close, you have to bear down and get a few breaks.
Our guys just would not let up."
It certainly would have been easy for the Bruins to let up after
two Bruin singles losses. After Pepperdine’s Troy Budgen dismissed
Heath Montgomery 6-4, 6-2, the Waves’ Charles Auffray defeated the
Bruins’ star Janecek 6-2, 6-4. After 12 consecutive dual-match
victories, Janecek must deal with back to back defeats, something
he isn’t accustomed to doing.
"I wasn’t happy out there at all," Janecek said. "I think it
might just be a lack of confidence for me right now. It seems like
I’m just going for my shots at the wrong time. But I’m not worried.
There’s plenty of time for me to get myself out of this slump."
Janecek’s loss slowed the Bruins chances, and the outlook for
the match was bleak for a time. To complicate matters, the Bruins
were without the services of sophomore Eric Lin, who was sidelined
with a back injury. But the Bruins were able to come from behind,
and Martin attributes that to the squad’s resiliency.
"(Pepperdine) is probably the best team in the country right
now," Martin said. "For a while I thought we were going to get
blown out. But the guys just hung in there."
Peters and freshman Matt Breen joined Gimelstob, who came up
with two straight-set singles wins. Peters had replaced Lin at the
No. 1 doubles position, and his victory was particularly
important.
"Loren really did a good job out there," Martin said. "But depth
is a real strength for this team. We can put in a number of guys in
that situation and they can step up for us."