Relaxation was the word for the doubles pair of junior Karue Sell and sophomore Joseph Di Giulio this past weekend.
Playing at the beachside Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship tournament in La Jolla, UCLA’s No. 2 doubles team reached the semifinal, thanks to a calm and collected attitude that mirrored the feel of the whole tournament.
“We didn’t really have expectations going into La Jolla, it’s just a fun tournament, it’s by the beach,” Sell said. “So we played, we relaxed, and I guess being relaxed made us play really well. So we’ve got to keep that going.”
Assistant coach Grant Chen said the carefree approach helped Di Giulio and Sell play more assertively.
“By being more relaxed, they played a little more free and subsequently they were able to be a little bit more aggressive,” Chen said. “They were closing well, moving forward, being aggressive; those are things that I thought were very positive. They were definitely both a little bit more relaxed and looser.”
The setting helped them relax, as they were able to hit the beach between matches, enjoying weather that Chen described as “picture perfect.”
“It was probably the best weather you could have asked for,” Chen said. “It really is a beautiful, special event so I think that’s one reason the guys always look forward to it every single year.”
The No. 7-seeded duo of Di Giulio and Sell made it to the quarterfinals with a win over a No. 2-seeded pair consisting of high schoolers Riley Smith, son of USC coach Peter Smith, and Brandon Holt. Both Smith and Holt are expected to play at USC in the coming years.
“They’re pretty young, they’re 16, I guess,” Sell said. “But they were a pretty solid team for a couple of 16-year-olds. They were pretty good but Joe and I played very well that match.”
The 6-4, 6-2 win over Holt and Smith sent Di Giulio and Sell to the quarterfinal, where they easily dismantled a Pepperdine team of Alexander Solonin and Kento Tanaka-Tamaki 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semifinal. In the semifinal, they faced off against a USC doubles team of Roberto Quiroz and Thibault Forget. The Trojan pair does not play doubles with each other during dual matches, but Quiroz is the NCAA’s No. 20 singles player and a part of the nation’s second-ranked doubles team with teammate Yannick Hanfmann.
Di Giulio and Sell were able to push Quiroz and Forget into a third set, even going up a break 3-1 in the final set before dropping five straight games to lose the match. They said the loss did not discourage them too much, as both players said they were happy with the weekend.
“Going to La Jolla, it’s a nice vacation town. So we were just going in relaxed, didn’t know what to expect,” Di Giulio said. “So to come out and play five really good matches was pretty positive.”
Di Giulio said he was happy with the progress of some recent technical adjustments.
“I went back to work with my coach before college because I was struggling,” Di Giulio said. “I changed a few things on my serve and forehand and I was executing those things really well. It came together and I was hitting pretty well.”
Sell agreed that Di Giulio stepped up his game this weekend. The pair will have to continue its success this Saturday if the Bruins are to take the doubles point against the Trojans in a match that will certainly not be as relaxed as the La Jolla tournament.
“Our goal is to try to see if we can get that intensity and aggression with them playing a little bit more carefree in some of our dual matches,” Chen said. “But when you play at ‘SC or an NCAA match, there’s going to be that X-factor that you have, that added pressure to yourselves, and a little bit more intensity, and those are just ongoing variables that you can’t control.”