The Bruins’ magical run through the USTA/ITA National Team
Indoors ended Sunday with a resounding thud ““ or so the score
would lead one to believe.
After impressive work in the first three rounds, the No. 6 UCLA
men’s tennis team succumbed to No. 1 Illinois, 4-0, in
Sunday’s championship in Seattle.
The team, however, was far from displeased.
Heading into the weekend, coach Billy Martin approached the
tournament with a guarded optimism. He believed his Bruins (7-1)
had a chance to go to the semifinals, but really no further.
The players, it seems, had something else in mind, recording
victories over No. 10 Kentucky, No. 3 Florida, and No. 7 Ole Miss
en route to the championship match.
“I’m ecstatic, quite honestly,” Martin said.
“The guys did an incredible job.”
Martin, prior to the weekend’s solid showing, would
frequently bring up the fact that the Bruins will not be at full
strength until junior Luben Pampoulov joins the team in April.
After Sunday, there was no talk of Pampoulov, only the solid
performances of the current Bruins.
No. 12-ranked Tobias Clemens was impressive as usual, running
his consecutive matches-won streak to 23 before losing to
Illinois’ Brian Wilson.
Clemens was the Bruins’ star on Saturday in the
team’s incredible 4-3 victory over Ole Miss. At one point,
UCLA trailed 3-1 in the match and needed to win its remaining three
singles matches to advance to the championship.
After juniors Kris Kwinta and Chris Lam each recorded three-set
victories, all the attention turned to Clemens on court No. 1.
Though the senior All-American trailed Catalin Gard 4-2 in the
third set, he fought back to win the match, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, to send
his team to the final.
Kwinta was the team’s “Rock of Gibraltar,”
according to Martin, for his three great wins in the first three
rounds.
Lam’s victory against Ole Miss was critical, and junior
Alberto Francis had some good showings at court No. 3. Even
sophomore Chris Surapol got into the act.
After not playing Thursday in the team’s win over
Kentucky, Surapol got his chance Friday against Florida. He took
full advantage of the opportunity, defeating Stef Tell, 6-3, 6-2.
Surapol filled the No. 6 position for the remainder of the
tournament.
“I’m definitely encouraged by the team’s
performance,” Surapol said. “At first I had my doubts
about how much we really wanted it.”
Those doubts were certainly put to rest, as UCLA proved it can
indeed slug it out with the best teams in the nation indoors, even
at this early juncture in the season.
If anything, Sunday’s loss to Illinois inspired the Bruins
more. Although the defending champions Fighting Illini
haven’t lost in over a season, the Bruins feel well-equipped
to knock them off, especially in the NCAA Tournament when the
matches will be played outdoors.
“Illinois is definitely beatable,” Surapol said.
“We’re looking forward to (seeing them
again).”