The last time UCLA junior Philipp Gruendler stepped onto the
tennis court against Illinois, the result was historic.
It was the 2004 NCAA Semifinals in Tulsa, Okla., and the Bruins
were heavy underdogs.
Gruendler, then a freshman, won a three-set thriller over G.D.
Jones to give UCLA a shocking 4-2 victory over the defending NCAA
champions and send UCLA to the title match. The victory also
snapped Illinois’ all-time record 64-match winning
streak.
“It was the first really, really important match for me in
my UCLA career, and I came out pretty well there,” Gruendler
said. “I just hope I can do it again.”
Since that fateful day, much has changed for both tennis
programs, who will renew their rivalry Saturday when they meet in
Palo Alto in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16.
UCLA finally won the NCAA championship last May, the
program’s first since 1984.
Former Illinois coach Craig Tiley, the man responsible for
building a tennis powerhouse in Champaign and an outspoken critic
of international players in college tennis, has moved on to take a
job in Australia.
Only four players who played in 2004 will be on the court for
either team this Saturday.
But for them, and for UCLA coach Billy Martin, the memories of
that day in Tulsa will undoubtedly linger.
“I remember how happy everyone else was, other coaches and
other teams,” Martin said. “I had never expected that,
quite honestly. In all my days coaching, I don’t think I
experienced that much happiness from other schools that we had
knocked someone off.”
UCLA junior Ben Kohlloeffel recalls the match, though he was
just a spectator at the time.
“Illinois is a big one,” Kohlloeffel said.
“They definitely want revenge.”
Jones, the player who lost the deciding match to Gruendler in
2004, now plays at the No. 3 position for Illinois. Ryler DeHeart,
who also lost in 2004, is now the Illini’s No. 1 player.
“I guarantee those guys will have that in the back of
their mind,” Martin said.
Entering Saturday’s match, Martin’s expectations are
relatively tempered. Though he has never had a team lose before the
quarterfinals in his 12 seasons as UCLA’s head coach, he has
also never had a team seeded as low as 10th. The Big Ten champion
Illini (24-6) are seeded seventh.
“In my opinion, it’s by far the toughest first round
match we’ve had to get through to continue on in the
tournament,” Martin said. “It’s a great
challenge, but this whole year has been nothing but big challenges.
As I’ve said all along, everything that happens this year to
us will give us more experience.”
While the Bruin coach said it’s nice that the team will be
able to play without pressure and expectations, Gruendler
isn’t buying it.
“There’s definitely pressure,” he said.
“At the end of the day we’re the defending champions,
and everybody is looking if we’re going to lose and when
we’re going to lose.
“I don’t think we go there to have fun. We go there
to do a job.”
It’s a job that will be difficult from the outset. Martin
said that Illinois is as good of a doubles team as anyone in the
country and is very dangerous at the top three singles positions.
DeHeart is ranked No. 11, Kevin Anderson No. 24 and Jones No.
88.
Illinois boasts more experience than the Bruins, who have four
starters who had never played in the NCAA tournament prior to this
season.
But if UCLA is to keep Martin’s streak alive and advance
to Sunday’s quarterfinals to face the winner of the
Pepperdine-Florida match, everyone, regardless of experience, will
need to play well.
“What this team has accomplished so far in getting to the
Round of 16 is really a great deal of work and I’m really
proud of it,” Martin said. “I’m a little greedy
and I think if we play really well, we could really surprise some
people.
“But unless we play really well, we’ll
lose.”