Tuesday, February 23, 1999
UCLA’s net winnings meet no match
MTENNIS: Team clinches third tourney in 4 years, still rank
among top five
By Dave Denicke
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA men’s tennis team knew the importance of the trip to
Washington last week.
"We needed to have a good indoors to stay in the top five (in
the nation)," said head coach Billy Martin.
Martin got his wish, as UCLA first defeated Washington in a dual
match and then swept through the field at the USTA/ITA National
Team Indoor Championships. The Bruins defeated SMU, Washington
(again), and Duke before knocking off Illinois 4-1 to take the
tournament for the third time in the past four years.
"Our guys wouldn’t be denied," said coach Martin. "We were able
to avenge our loss in the first round last year against Illinois.
It was really just a tremendous week for us."
UCLA (11-1, 2-1 in PAC-10) locked horns with Illinois, who is
tied with UCLA for the No. 5 ranking in the country, in the
finals.
Illinois came into the match on a roll; the Illini not only
possessed a perfect 9-0 record, but also ended Stanford’s 45-match
winning streak in the semifinals, 4-3.
Unfortunately, senior Gavin Sontag fractured his hip against
Stanford and did not play in the finals.
UCLA took the final 4-1, behind strong singles play. UCLA won
three of the four singles matches completed, including Jean-Noel
Grinda’s dramatic win over Oliver Freelove, which clinched the
match for UCLA. Grinda, ranked 14th in the nation, upset the
seventh-ranked Freelove 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7-4).
"It was great to win that match. I had my teammates cheering me
on," said Grinda.
"Before my match against Drew the second time, I had a
revelation on how I had to relax and put the pressure behind me.
From there on, I won all of my matches easily, except for the
final."
Before UCLA reached the finals, however, the squad played tough
against some of the nation’s top teams.
UCLA started off with a win over SMU (No. 10), which entered the
tournament featuring five players ranked in the top 90 in the
country. Grinda (No. 14) and freshman Zach Fleishman (No. 100) are
the only Bruins in the top 100.
In the second round, UCLA defeated Washington for the second
time in less than a week. The two teams squared off before the
tournament on Feb. 16, which the Bruins won 5-2.
The rematch went to UCLA, 4-3, as senior Jason Cook clinched the
match with a win over Marius Lunde. Cook spotted Lunde the first
set 6-0, before rallying back to take the match 0-6, 7-6, 7-6.
On Saturday, it was Jong-Min Lee’s turn to clinch a match for
UCLA, as the junior went the distance to topple Duke’s Porter
Jones, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Entering the tournament, Lee had not played a
singles match since Jan. 30, because of tendonitis and some
personal reasons.
The tournament win also extended a Pac-10 streak of 13
consecutive years that a team has won the crown. In fact, only
three times has a team outside of California won the tournament,
and all three came from Texas.
UCLA will do battle with a team from the Lone Star State
Saturday, when it hosts the Rice Owls at the Los Angeles Tennis
Center. The Bruins’ next match is Thursday against UC Irvine.
The match has been postponed twice due to rain.
Despite playing five matches in six days, the Bruins are ready
to get back out on the courts.
"Being No. 1 (following the tournament win), you want to get out
there and prove you deserve it," said Grinda. GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily
Bruin Senior Staff
Zach Fleishman is one of only two Bruin players to be ranked in
the top 100.
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