UCLA men’s tennis coach Billy Martin was a little bit
worried about how his team would respond after a demoralizing loss
to USC.
It turns out he had nothing to worry about. A week and a half
after the eighth-ranked Bruins absolutely collapsed in their loss
to their crosstown rivals, they responded in a convincing fashion
in the desert, beating Arizona State, 7-0, on Friday and Arizona,
5-2, on Saturday.
“The guys really came back strong,” Martin said.
There were certainly questions about how UCLA (14-2) would react
after the tough loss and the physically demanding practices that
followed it.
Add to that the fact that Luben Pampoulov, the team’s No.
1 player, didn’t make the trip to Arizona because he has been
suffering from a pinched nerve in his neck, and these matches
really did become something of a statement.
“We didn’t wallow in our sorrow,” Martin said.
“We worked really hard to show that that’s not going to
happen again.”
They also made sure a loss to the Sun Devils wasn’t going
to happen again. Last season, they pulled a huge upset by beating
UCLA for only the second time in 58 meetings between them.
On Friday, it was never close. The Bruins cruised to victories
at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to win the doubles point, and five of
the six singles matches were decided in two sets. Senior Chris Lam,
playing at the No. 3 position, needed to win a third-set
super-tiebreak over Clint Letcher to complete the shutout.
The win over Arizona State (6-3) took on some added meaning the
next day when the Sun Devils registered an upset victory over USC.
Plagued by inconsistent play at No. 3 doubles, the Bruins lost the
doubles point to Arizona on Saturday with losses at No. 1 and No. 3
doubles. The team was able to respond, however, winning five of six
singles matches.
Martin singled out the impressive play of Benjamin Kohlloeffel
and Kris Kwinta, with Kwinta receiving the most praise. Playing at
No. 2, 49th-ranked Kwinta beat No. 48 Roger Matalonga, 6-1, 6-4.
Kwinta, who moved up in the lineup after an impressive showing at
the National Team Indoors, continues to improve his singles
play.
“Kwinta had his best singles victory in his UCLA
career,” Martin said. “He looked great from start to
finish.”