Play begins today to determine whether the third time will be
another charm for UCLA at the Pac-10 singles championships. A Bruin
has emerged victorious in each of the last two seasons at the
tournament, which runs today through Sunday at Libbey Park in Ojai.
First it was Rodrigo Grilli in 2002. Then it was Marcin Matkowski
in 2003. This year, it could be one of a number of players from
across the conference, but UCLA coach Billy Martin is certainly
hoping that it will again be one of his guys. “Any of them
could do well in the tournament, quite honestly,” Martin
said. Everyone except Tobias Clemens, that is. The best player on
the Bruins, and arguably the best player in the conference, has
opted to sit Ojai out, just as he did last season. Instead, the
Bruin senior will remain in Westwood and work on his game by
himself. “My first two years at UCLA I played, and I did
terrible,” Clemens said. “I was burned out.
“It’s much better for me personally to take some time
off, gather some energy, and practice really hard.” Clemens,
ranked No. 8 in the country, has the luxury to do that because he
already has a spot in the NCAA singles tournament. No one else on
the Bruins, however, is so fortunate. But the Pac-10 tournament
affords the opportunity to those who haven’t qualified for
the NCAA tournament to play their way in. The conference tournament
champion receives an automatic bid to the 64-player national
tournament. “I would expect those guys playing in the upper
division to be excited,” Martin said. “If they win that
tournament, they get in the NCAAs.” That means Luben
Pampoulov, Chris Lam, Alberto Francis and Kris Kwinta all have the
chance to achieve conference glory. “A couple of wins can
totally change your game and your attitude,” Kwinta said.
Kwinta, who has been playing at No. 5 in the Bruin lineup since
Pampoulov became eligible in early April, wants to prove himself.
“You want to compete for yourself and maybe prove to coach
that you deserve to play higher,” he said. This will be his
last chance because Martin must submit his lineup to the NCAA
tournament committee before tournament play begins. The Bruin coach
said he will use this tournament as a determining factor in whether
he wants to make any changes at No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5, the spots
currently occupied by Lam, Francis and Kwinta. Martin said that No.
1, No. 2 and No. 6 have been secured by Clemens, Pampoulov and
Philipp Gruendler, respectively. Gruendler will compete as the top
seed in the Pac-10 invitational bracket because the Bruins can only
enter four players in the championship bracket. As far as
handicapping the tournament goes, Martin sees Washington junior
Alex Vlaski as the favorite. Vlaski is a two-time runner-up, losing
to Grilli and Matkowski in his two championship appearances. Vlaski
is the tournament’s top seed, and Stanford’s Sam
Warburg is seeded second. Warburg registered victories over Clemens
in UCLA’s last two matches against the Cardinal, and his play
certainly caught the Bruin coach’s eye. “If he plays
like that, he can play with anybody in the Pac-10,” Martin
said.
THE DRAW: Kwinta faces Daniel Sebescen of
California; Lam battles Johan Berg of USC; Pampoulov plays
Cal’s Tyler Browne, and Francis faces Stanford’s James
Wan in opening-round action of the 32-player tournament today.
Gruendler, Chris Surapol, Aaron Yovan and Jason Nguyen open up in
the invitational draw early this morning.