Don’t get him wrong. Billy Martin is happy to be heading
to Sherwood Country Club this weekend to watch his UCLA tennis
players on the courts.
It’s just that he wishes he was out on the links while he
was at the country club.
“I always wish I was out on the golf course,” Martin
said. “But even more so there.”
Unfortunately for the Bruin coach, there is business to be
attended to this weekend, like getting his team ready for the
rapidly-approaching Pac-10 season.
The Sherwood Collegiate Cup, which runs today through Sunday in
Thousand Oaks, boasts some of the finest collegiate tennis players
in the country, and it will serve the Bruins well in their
early-season development.
“This tournament I really enjoy because it’s such
great competition,” Martin said. “It gets you geared up
for the season really well. You know after this tournament what you
have to work on and what you’re already doing well.
It’s a really good test.”
Senior Tobias Clemens has aced this test the last two seasons,
as he is the two-time defending tournament champion.
“I love that tournament,” Clemens said. “The
people are always super-nice to us, and the courts suit me
well.”
But by no means is the No. 12 Clemens a shoo-in to three-peat.
Also playing in the 32-player singles draw at Sherwood this weekend
are No. 5 Benjamin Becker of Baylor, No. 10 Connor Niland of
California and No. 18 Chris Lam, Clemens’ Bruin teammate.
“I give myself a chance, but we’ll see,”
Clemens said. “I take every match how it comes. If I win,
I’m happy, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Martin particularly enjoys the Sherwood tournament because it
allows him a sneak peak at some of the competition he’ll face
later in the season ““ this year he’s most curious to
see USC freshman Jamil Al-Agba and Trojan senior Adriano Biasella,
a transfer from the College of the Desert.
“We get to see some of the other schools, and see what
they’re going to have to throw against us,” he
said.
But this weekend is really about the Bruins improving themselves
individually.
And it’s about Martin wishing he was smacking around a
little white ball.