Bruins under pressure to beat desert teams

Published: Friday, January 29, 1999

Friday, January 29, 1999

PREVIEW: Weekend pits No. 5 tennis team against powerful Arizona schools

By Dave Denicke

Daily Bruin Contributor

This weekend, the season heats up for the UCLA's men's tennis team with a trip to the desert.

Fifth-ranked UCLA opens conference play on Friday against the Arizona Wildcats, and then heads over to Tempe for a showdown with 17th ranked Arizona State.

The preparation for this road trip hit a bit of a snag on Tuesday when a match against Irvine was postponed due to rain. This match would have given head coach Billy Martin an opportunity to shuffle his line-up before this weekend. "Mainly, we wanted to try out Zach Fleishman and Marcin Rozpedski in the third doubles spot."

Even before Irvine, however, UCLA remained focused on the trip down south. "Arizona is definitely the bigger goal, team-wise," said Jean-Noel Grinda.

"Going into Arizona, we've had a lot of preparation. We played a very good Tulane team and were able to sweep them, so I think we have a lot of confidence going into the next couple of matches," said freshman Zach Fleishman.

Fleishman, who is projected to play in the No. 2 singles slot, faced Arizona State's top player, senior Gustavo Marcaccio, in the semifinals of an ITA regional tournament in November. Marcaccio won the match in a thrilling third-set tie-breaker, 9-7.

Meanwhile UCLA's top player, Jean-Noel Grinda, has had a measure of success against Marcaccio, defeating him twice last year in straight sets.

With the singles line-up playing well, the Bruins feel confident going into the desert state.

"The first match on Friday is usually the toughest. It's a good thing we play Arizona State on Saturday, because usually it's a bit easier to play on that second day," said Martin.

Arizona struggled last season, compiling a 6-12 overall record. Graduating three top-players, this year's Wildcat squad has a distinctly international flavor. Five players hail from outside the United States, and sophomore Brian Jackson is the only player from Arizona. "I just think it's ridiculous, the number of foreign players (in tennis)," says Jason Cook.

UCLA's second opponent, Arizona State played their first dual match of the season on Jan. 26, winning a close match against Fresno State, 4-3.

UCLA also faced the Bulldogs this year, sweeping the contest 7-0. The Sun Devils return five starters from a team that tied for 5th in the Pac-10 last season. However, coach Martin says that this year's team should fare much better. "(It will be) an extremely tough match with ASU down there ... ASU could be as good as anybody in the conference."

One factor that might come into play in Arizona this weekend is the altitude. Both matches are played well above sea level, which affects the flight of the ball. As for what UCLA could do to prepare for the change in elevation, Martin said, "Well, I suppose I could take them up to practice on the Sunset courts. That's probably about 300 feet right there."

The UC Irvine match has been rescheduled for Feb. 5 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. UCLA will start cooking in Tucson at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

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