• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Men's tennis rides out Waves

No. 4 UCLA holds off No. 5 Pepperdine, 4-3, in thriller on Tuesday

By Mark Singerton

Victory could not have been any sweeter for the UCLA men's tennis team as they survived a 4-3 battle against Pepperdine Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The match lived up to the hype. The Waves came into the contest ranked fifth in the country, and UCLA was fourth. Bruin head coach Billy Martin didn't know what to expect.

"I had no idea how it was going to go," Martin said. "I was hoping it would be close."

The Bruins got off to a slow start by losing the doubles competition. Pepperdine tandem Chris Hill and Michael Jessup edged UCLA's Eric Taino and Justin Gimelstob. Sophomore Loren Peters and senior Robert Janecek dropped their match, 8-6. The doubles loss was the first for the Bruins this season.

Then, UCLA came to life, pulling off two crucial third-set victories in the singles competition, including Justin Gimelstob's 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win over the Waves' Brad Sceney.

"It was one hell of a win for us," Martin said. "For (Gimelstob) to go in there in only his second match of the year and pull it out was fantastic."

In the other three-set match, Taino outlasted Pepperdine's Hill 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

"I think we just had the will to win today," Martin said. "When things get that close, you have to bear down and get a few breaks. Our guys just would not let up."

It certainly would have been easy for the Bruins to let up after two Bruin singles losses. After Pepperdine's Troy Budgen dismissed Heath Montgomery 6-4, 6-2, the Waves' Charles Auffray defeated the Bruins' star Janecek 6-2, 6-4. After 12 consecutive dual-match victories, Janecek must deal with back to back defeats, something he isn't accustomed to doing.

"I wasn't happy out there at all," Janecek said. "I think it might just be a lack of confidence for me right now. It seems like I'm just going for my shots at the wrong time. But I'm not worried. There's plenty of time for me to get myself out of this slump."

Janecek's loss slowed the Bruins chances, and the outlook for the match was bleak for a time. To complicate matters, the Bruins were without the services of sophomore Eric Lin, who was sidelined with a back injury. But the Bruins were able to come from behind, and Martin attributes that to the squad's resiliency.

"(Pepperdine) is probably the best team in the country right now," Martin said. "For a while I thought we were going to get blown out. But the guys just hung in there."

Peters and freshman Matt Breen joined Gimelstob, who came up with two straight-set singles wins. Peters had replaced Lin at the No. 1 doubles position, and his victory was particularly important.

"Loren really did a good job out there," Martin said. "But depth is a real strength for this team. We can put in a number of guys in that situation and they can step up for us."