The UCLA men’s tennis team may not have won a repeat
national title, but Benjamin Kohlloeffel made sure the program
didn’t come home empty-handed.
Kohlloeffel became the first Bruin in 31 years to win an NCAA
singles title on Monday, defeating Virginia’s Somdev
Devvarman 6-1, 6-4 in the NCAA final on Memorial Day. The last
Bruin to win the single’s title is current UCLA coach Billy
Martin, who was at Kohlloeffel’s side for every match.
“I’m just really happy; it’s such an
incredible feeling to win the NCAAs,” Kohlloeffel said.
“I’m happy to be the next Bruin to win it after coach
Martin.”
The week saw Kohlloeffel dominate whichever player came his way.
Dropping only one set throughout the tournament as he recovered
from a setback against Colorado’s Eric Molnar in the second
round, he never gave his opponents another chance. After sweeping
through the first two rounds with relative ease, Kohlloeffel ran
into perhaps the only player to reveal his weakness ““
Cal’s Conor Niland.
“When I looked at his draw I thought this would be the
tough one,” UCLA coach Billy Martin said.
After beating San Diego’s Pierrick Ysern in the third
round, the junior was facing Niland, another Pac-10 player that had
beat him in dual matches this season; Niland had claimed both their
matches in straight sets. But their third face-to-face saw
Kohlloeffel get a straight-set victory smile, as he won the match
6-4, 6-2.
“His backhand did it for him in that match, and after that
I knew he had a really good chance overall,” Martin said.
The 6-1, 6-4 score might make it appear as though Kohlloeffel
had an easy final run to the title. But the junior had a few
moments of doubt that could have turned things around.
“I knew I had chances to win it, but you have to come out
every day and fight hard for it because once you’re sloppy or
not focused, you lose,” Kohlloeffel said. “I’m
just glad that I kept my focus going.”
Kohlloeffel flew through a 30-minute-long set, claiming it 6-1
with a serve that saw Devvarman’s returns die in the net. The
second set looked as though it was going to be an even shorter
affair, Kohlloeffel being up 4-1. But Devvarman immediately broke
back, as nerves took the better of Kohlloeffel for a few
minutes.
“Once I was up 4-1, I started realizing that I could win
it and it’s a tough feeling,” Kohlloeffel said.
“If you’re close to closing it out, you have a lot of
thoughts in your head and it’s tough to play and tough to
finish it.”
The Bruin held on to one of his breaks however, and through one
of his trademark volleys, he claimed the second set 6-4 and became
the 2006 individual national champion.
“We won it with the team last year and it was great and
winning it individually, it makes me feel good,” Kohlloeffel
said. “I’m proud of being here and it’s a good
achievement for me.”
“There is not much I could have done today,”
Devvarman said. “Kohlloeffel just played a really good match
all the way through and gave me very little chance.”
With this title, Kohlloeffel joins not only his current coach
Billy Martin on the list of Bruins who claimed the individual
title, but other tennis legends as well, such as Arthur Ashe in
1965 and Jimmy Connors in 1971.
“I did not go in the tournament thinking I might find
myself on the same list as Jimmy Connors,” Kohlloeffel said.
“But it is obviously nice to be there with my current coach
and great tennis players.”
The entire season has been a series of record-breaking
achievements for Kohlloeffel. In his 50 victories since the
beginning of the season, the junior only dropped six sets since
September. He now holds a 92-12 career singles record (50-4 this
season) since he started competing for the Bruin tennis team at the
beginning of his sophomore season.
With a team title in 2005 and an individual one in 2006, the
prospect of combining his achievements of the last two years next
season is always welcome.
“It is a better feeling to win it with the team, but why
not experience both of them next year?” Kohlloeffel said.
While that would be a great achievement, right now the Bruins
are just happy for Kohlloeffel and excited that he will be
returning next year.
“We are just very proud of him and are happy he will be
back with the team next year,” Martin said.