Just when it looked like the UCLA men’s tennis team had
taken one giant step forward, it’s now quite possible the
Bruins have taken a couple of steps back.
After making an impressive run in the National Indoors two weeks
ago, the No. 2 Bruins have played subpar tennis in their past three
matches, the latest a 5-2 loss at Arizona State on Friday and a 4-3
win over Arizona on Saturday.
“The guys need to realize that we’re not a great
team right now,” coach Billy Martin said. “Maybe
we’ve grown a little bit overconfident with
ourselves.”
“We played stinky,” he added. “We
couldn’t keep a ball in the court.”
Before the loss to Arizona State, UCLA owned a 55-1 all-time
record against the Sun Devils.
Make that 55-2.
And lay part of the blame on the altitude, according to Martin.
Tucson is situated about a half a mile above sea level, and the
altitude can do funny things to a tennis ball, especially for a
team that is not used to it.
“In my 21 years of coaching, I don’t think
we’ve ever played well in Arizona,” Martin said.
“The altitude is just so gosh darn tough on us.”
But though they have struggled in the past, the Bruins
haven’t actually lost. In fact, UCLA’s last loss to
Arizona State came in 1967. In the past, players have battled
through adversity to hard-fought victories.
On Friday, the Bruins (9-2) weren’t so fortunate.
After the team lost the doubles point, Tobias Clemens and Chris
Lam lost in straight sets on courts No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
Junior Alberto Francis earned UCLA a point with a win on court No.
2, but Philipp Gruendler fell at No. 5, sealing the upset victory
for the Sun Devils (4-1).
Junior Kris Kwinta earned the other UCLA team point.
“(Francis) and (Kwinta) did the best job not getting too
disappointed,” Martin said. “Most of the guys
didn’t handle it well mentally at all.”
Saturday, the Bruins handled themselves well enough to squeak
out a win and maintain their perfect all-time record against
Arizona (53-0).
But barely.
The team again lost the doubles point, but Clemens, Francis,
Gruendler and Chris Surapol notched the singles wins necessary for
the team victory.
Lam lost again, and is now winless in his last three
matches.
“It just has to be a matter of confidence,” Martin
said.
With a near-disastrous trip to the desert over, the Bruins are
happy to be back at sea level, preparing for No. 5 Baylor, a team
Martin considers to be the best in the country.
“We don’t only need to play great tennis to beat
Baylor,” he said. “We probably have to get lucky as
well.”
The Bruins certainly need to do more than they did in
Arizona.