Though Senior Days are supposed to be memorable, Tobias Clemens
had one Saturday that he would like to soon forget. The only senior
on the fifth-ranked UCLA men’s tennis team, Clemens was
honored before the beginning of singles play Saturday for his
contributions to the program. The German native will undoubtedly be
remembered as one of the all-time Bruin greats. He has compiled an
unbelievable 111-30 record in nearly four years with the team. But
apparently Stanford junior Sam Warburg didn’t get the memo
that it was supposed to be Clemens’ special day. Warburg
systematically sent the Bruin All-American to a 6-1, 6-2 defeat on
Court 1. “He played really well, and I didn’t play my
best tennis,” Clemens said. “I couldn’t really
focus myself into the match.” Unfortunately, the 5-2 team
victory over Stanford marked the final time Clemens will grace the
courts of the Los Angeles Tennis Center in a regular season match.
That’s just one more reason the team is hoping to host an
NCAA Regional at UCLA when the NCAA Tournament starts in May.
“He’s done such a great job for us,” coach Billy
Martin said. “I just pray that that’s not his last home
match and we get the regionals here so he can vindicate himself a
little bit.” Losses have been rare for Clemens, especially
this season, as his record currently stands at 31-5. Last
year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year, Clemens has reached the
30-win plateau in each of the last three seasons. Though he insists
that his individual performance doesn’t matter as long as the
team wins, it is clear that Clemens is a fierce competitor who
hates to lose, regardless of the circumstances. It is clearer still
that Clemens doesn’t want his home career to end with a loss.
That’s why he won’t answer questions about the Warburg
match potentially being his last at the LATC. “I’m
pretty sure we’ll be back for regionals,” he said.
“Then you can ask me the same question again.”
ROAD RAGE: Anyone hoping to catch some
men’s tennis action at the LATC in the coming weeks will be
thoroughly disappointed, as the Bruins are taking to the road for
their final four regular season matches. They travel to the Pacific
Northwest this weekend, and will again face off with California and
Stanford the following weekend in the Bay Area. This season’s
schedule is much different from last year’s, when UCLA
finished its regular season with four home matches.
“It’s kind of weird,” junior captain Chris Lam
said. “We have a bunch of matches coming up, but we
don’t play any of them here.” Martin is taking it all
in stride. He said a schedule like this comes along every four
years or so, and the team simply has to deal with it. But the Bruin
coach certainly expects to be home for the first two rounds of the
tournament. He feels that winning at least three of their final
four matches will guarantee UCLA the honor to host a regional.
RESPECT: With Saturday’s impressive
victory over ninth-ranked Stanford, it is quite probable that UCLA
is regaining the respect it had potentially lost with the
disastrous loss to Arizona State in March. But national respect
little concerns the Bruins. “Whether they think we’re
coming back or not doesn’t matter,” Lam said.
“What matters is that we believe in ourselves, that we
believe we’re a good team. If they don’t suspect that
we’re a good team, then that might hurt them.
“It’s really not important to us what other people are
thinking.”