There wasn’t really much more that senior Mathieu Dehaine could’ve done on Tuesday afternoon when he took on Andre Begemann of Pepperdine in the championship match of the ITA Regional Championships.
Begemann’s serve was not only powerful, but also precise and consistent, and he used it to get the better of Dehaine throughout the match. In fact, Begemann was so effective with his serve that UCLA coach Billy Martin couldn’t help but wonder at Begemann’s statistics afterwards.
“This was a high quality match,” Martin said of Bagemann’s 7-6, 7-6 win. “I’d really like to see Andre’s first serve percentage. He was just serving really well and there wasn’t much Mathieu could do to get to them and put them in play.”
Both players held serve throughout the match, with Begemann getting the upper hand in both tiebreaks after taking advantage of Dehaine’s mistakes and second serves.
“It’s the first to 7 points,” Dehaine said. “You make one mistake and it’s pretty much over. It’s hard to do anything when he serves so well during the tiebreaker.”
Dehaine had won five straight matches en route to the final with dropping a set, and played well enough throughout to make Martin optimistic for the dual match season, which begins in late January.
There was also a noticeable difference in the senior’s mental approach, and in his decisions to play more aggressively, while using his size to his advantage at the net.
“That’s the best I’ve ever seen Mathieu play,” Martin said. “He really stepped up his game, which we need him to do this year. I’m really, really proud and happy about his performance.”
Whereas in the past Dehaine has tended to get caught with the ball low at his feet when approaching the net to volley, he has improved his reflexes and has begun coming forward much more quickly. This allows him to meet the ball at a higher level, where it can be driven for a winner, rather than just scooped over the net.
“I am really happy with the way I played,” Dehaine said. “Everything is positive right now for me.”
After playing a solid tournament through Saturday, Dehaine was forced to relocate from the original tournament site in Malibu on Pepperdine’s campus due to the Southern California fires, but he was able to maintain his consistent and aggressive play.
With one day off between the quarterfinals and semifinals due to the shift of location, Dehaine had extra time to prepare for his Monday afternoon match against fellow Bruin Harel Srugo.
“I don’t know him very well yet because it’s only his first year, but it’s still hard to play teammates,” Dehaine said.
Begemann had a tough task of his own as well, having to play the tournament at three different college courts: Pepperdine, USC and UCLA.
While Srugo and Dehaine faced off at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Monday, Begemann was taking care of business on the courts at USC against the third Bruin semifinalist, junior Haythem Abid.
“The courts are just different, the way the ball bounces,” Begemann said. “It’s different surroundings but it didn’t really influence me mentally.”
Last year at the ITA Regional Championships, the Pepperdine star became the first player from the school to capture the tournament title and had an impressive run in defending his title the second time around.
“This year I got the chance to defend my title and it was good to be able to win the tournament in back-to-back years,” Begemann said. “What makes it even more special is that Southern California has some of the best players in all the country, and it’s always tough to win a tournament here.”