Icy Hot and Riviera are the premier names in the world of
preseason college tennis.
The Icy Hot/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men’s
All-American tournament will start today, featuring only two
Bruins, junior Tobias Clemens and sophomore Chris Lam. Clemens did
not have to qualify to get into the tournament, as he is currently
the No. 2 player in the country. Chris Lam, however, took the more
difficult path to the tournament.
Lam, a transfer student from Santa Clara University, had to win
two qualifying matches, including a thriller with the No. 1 seed in
the qualifying bracket, Rene-Charles Combette of Mississippi State
University. Lam won 7-5, 7-6 (6) to qualify for the Icy Hot/ITA
Men’s All-American.
“These preseason tournaments can be important if someone
has a really good tournament,” said UCLA men’s tennis
head coach Billy Martin. “A player can get off the ground
running and carry momentum into the season.”
All of the other players on the team either chose not to
participate or have nagging injuries.
For the UCLA women’s tennis team at the Riviera/ITA
women’s All-American tournament, the doubles team of
sophomores Sarah Gregg and Anya Loncarie made it to the second
round of the qualifying tournament but lost to Lindsay Dawaf and
Julie Rotondi of Florida, 8-3.
In singles, Carleton was defeated by Washington’s Claire
Carter, 6-0, 6-4.
Sarah Walker, by virtue of her No. 6 national ranking, did not
need to qualify for the All-American tournament and will begin play
today.