For Chris Surapol, it didn’t take long last year to realize just how low Trojan fans would stoop in an attempt to help the USC men’s tennis team try to get a win over its crosstown rival UCLA.
At the onset of the doubles point, Surapol and his partner, Haythem Abid, were at the receiving end of several racist comments. The Tunisian native, whose full name is Mohamed Haythem Abid, was called a terrorist and was ridiculed throughout the match played at Marks Tennis Stadium.
“It’s rough. The fans say some pretty nasty things,” Surapol said. “They have a reputation for not showing opponents respect, which is understandable coming from a school like that.”
The attacks weren’t aimed only at Abid, who was a freshman at the time, but were also directed towards Surapol, whose is of Thai descent.
“They said to Abid, “˜Who’s your partner? Michael Chang?'” Surapol recalled. “Then they followed it up with a “˜Go back to Japan.’ It just shows you the level of education they teach at USC. If they knew anything about tennis, they would know that Chang is American and if they were talking about his descent, he’s Chinese.”
The troubles didn’t stop for Surapol in doubles play, though. He was nearly spit on and hit with change thrown by a USC fan in the stands when his match was well out of his opponent’s reach.
“I was up 6-0, 3-1 and the guy was trying to get in my head somehow,” he said. “I started to look up and smile at him because I knew the match was already over for the other guy.”
But when the No. 6 Bruins (9-2) head across Los Angeles on Friday afternoon to take on the Trojans, they will have to block out all the external factors even more than they did last season, when they swept the series from a USC squad that was at a low point.
The No. 9 Trojans (10-0) have proven themselves to be serious contenders this season. USC has struggled against the Bruins since 1997, winning just four of 22 matches.
“I think this is the strongest team USC has had in four years, and I feel we have a good team,” UCLA coach Billy Martin said. “Whenever these two schools meet in a sport, it always makes for a great battle, and this is a great rivalry with a lot of tradition.”
“They still have the same players, but the attitude of the players is different,” Abid added. “They’re taking things more seriously.”
On Friday, the Bruins will be bringing in as many fans as possible on a charter bus in hopes of gaining some support in an otherwise hostile environment.
The defending NCAA Singles Champion and recipient of last week’s Pac-10 Player of the Week honors, Benjamin Kohlloeffel, understands that in order to avoid getting caught up in the heat of the rivalry and becoming affected by the crowd, he and his teammates will have to do their best to maintain their mental composure.
“It’s not easy to stay focused because there are a lot of distractions going on,” he said. “At some point it bothers you a little bit; you either handle it or you break down. It’s really about the way you deal with it.”