Although the No. 9 UCLA men’s tennis team (9-3) was happy to finish the season ranked in the top 10, it may come back to haunt them down the road.
But UCLA coach Billy Martin has learned that it is only detrimental to look too far ahead around the time of the NCAA Championships and will therefore make sure his team focuses on the task at hand: the Bruins’ first-round matchup against UNLV at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
“You can’t look forward at all,” Martin said. “It’s do-or-die each round. UNLV is going to be the team that we’re focused on and preparing for.”
The Rebels (13-13) captured the Mountain West Conference Championship to earn an at large-bid in its first tournament since 1999.
“Obviously we’re very excited to go to our first regional since I’ve been here,” UNLV coach Owen Hambrook said. “It will be a great opportunity to play at UCLA on their home courts. It’s a plus that we don’t have much of a trip and will be playing in our own time zone. Everyone is excited and ready to go.”
Playing UCLA at LATC may not be the ideal situation for the Rebels, however, as the Bruins are undefeated on their home courts so far thus season.
If UCLA was to topple No. 66 UNLV, it would face the winner of the Virginia Commonwealth and Texas Tech match, which will also be played in Westwood.
A second-round win for the Bruins would pit them against No. 8 Oklahoma State, a team that Martin was able to watch at the National Team Indoors at the beginning of the season.
“I got the chance to see them earlier this year and they’re a very solid team,” Martin said.
Looking one step further is what could get the Bruins into trouble, as they would have to face off against No. 1 Georgia (26-0), a team that has lost just once in the past two seasons: in the national championship match last season against a Pepperdine team that beat UCLA in the quarterfinals.
“If we’re lucky enough to make the quarters, we get to play Georgia, which we all know is as good a team as there is in college tennis,” Martin said.
The fact that every round beyond the first two will be played in Athens, Ga., won’t be much help to the Bruins, who would also have to battle a tough crowd to pull off the upset.
In Martin’s mind, there are no excuses for the Bruins to have a bad postseason run, as there are a number of factors that should boost them above their competition in the earlier rounds of the tournament.
“We’ve won our last 10 matches; we’re playing at home; we’ve got three seniors, so there’s no reason for us not to feel fairly confident going into the tournament,” he said. “It’s going to depend on how badly the guys want it and how focused they’re going to stay.”
UCLA aims to capture its first two matches at home before looking ahead to potential matchups in Athens, an approach that Martin will be stressing to his team.
“That’s the worst thing you can do ““ looking too far ahead,” he said. “If you’re looking at matches down the line, you don’t get there usually. That’s my experience.”
The veteran coach also knows that once it comes down to the final 16 teams, the championship trophy can be anyone’s.
“The big hump is just to try to make the tournament down in Georgia and then it’s just everyone at war.”