Yes, there are still four weeks left before the NCAA men’s
tennis tournament begins. And yes, the Bruins still have two
matches to play before the regular season is over. But it just
seems like it’s never too early to speculate about a
team’s postseason chances. And as far as speculation goes,
the fourth-ranked Bruins appear primed to make a deep tournament
run. The team is currently riding a seven-match winning streak, and
a sort of parity has emerged in college tennis where any of the top
teams could conceivably beat any of the other top teams on a given
day. Right now, the Bruins definitely count themselves in that top
tier. “Teams are not going to look forward to playing
us,” coach Billy Martin said. It’s not that the Bruins
(16-5, 4-1 Pac-10) are looking so far ahead to the tournament;
it’s just that they like their chances when the time finally
does come. Martin believes his squad is one of six that have a
legitimate shot to win the championship. Not surprisingly,
Martin’s six selections, No. 1 Illinois, No. 2 Baylor, No. 3
USC, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Mississippi and No. 6 Duke, occupy the top
six spots in the rankings. “To win that tournament, you have
to play four good matches,” Martin said. Though the Bruin
coach noted the trend of parity this season, he feels like only
those six teams have the ability to play great tennis for four
consecutive days. UCLA senior Tobias Clemens is even more selective
than his coach. He’s essentially narrowed the field down to
three. “I think it is only Illinois, Baylor or us,”
Clemens said. “I don’t think any other team has a
chance.” However, those other teams have had a chance at the
Bruins during the regular season. In fact, UCLA has already lost to
Illinois, Baylor, USC and Duke this season. But as far as Martin is
concerned, that UCLA squad is a lot different from the one that
will be taking to the courts in May. The primary difference is
Luben Pampoulov, who gained his eligibility in early April. He has
amassed a 4-0 record at the No. 2 spot in the lineup in the
team’s matches since then. “Certainly Luben should make
it a bit of a different match, in both singles and doubles,”
Martin said. If there’s one team that would appear to have a
better chance than the rest to win the national championship, that
honor would have to belong to Illinois. Last year’s
champions, the Fighting Illini, are 21-0 this season. They are
currently riding a 53-match winning streak, dating from the
beginning of last season. UCLA already has some experience with
Illinois, as it was the Illini who sent the Bruins to a 4-0 loss in
the finals of the National Team Indoors in February. But Martin
feels like his team should have won the doubles point in that
match, thereby seizing the momentum and maybe changing the course
of the match as a whole. He also feels Illinois could be vulnerable
on outdoor courts, a surface on which they are unaccustomed to
playing. “Although you might look at the score and say 4-0, I
really thought we should have won the doubles,” Martin said.
“I would certainly like to play them outdoors on a slower
surface, which the NCAA championship certainly will be.”
DROP SHOTS: Junior Alberto Francis is on a
seven-match winning streak “¦ Freshman Philipp Gruendler has
been dominant in his four matches at No. 6 singles. In the four
straight-set victories, he has only surrendered 10 games. “¦
The Bruins are one game back of first-place USC in the Pac-10
standings. The Trojans will have to falter in the Bay Area against
California and Stanford if UCLA is to have a chance to catch
them.