M. tennis heading for La Jolla
By Sarah Harrison
People usually look forward to the weekend because it gives them a chance to relax, regroup and prepare for next week's challenges. The fourth-ranked UCLA men's tennis team is no exception, as they anticipate traveling to the beautiful La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club for a doubles tournament this weekend.
"It is kind of a nice, fun, relaxing weekend, but with some good tennis," UCLA head coach Billy Martin said. "There are a lot of good teams there and we really get to focus on doubles."
After last week's intensity at the USTA/ITA indoor championships, where they finished third behind No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Georgia, the Bruins are looking forward to this less stressful tournament. The La Jolla Invitational falls under the Pacific Coast Doubles and is not a collegiate tournament. However, it is played out like a regular tournament, with a draw of 64 teams. The purpose is to provide schools the opportunity to concentrate and improve upon their doubles, which can often be the boost of confidence that is needed against a tough team.
UCLA will be entering the doubles teams of Robert Janecek-Eric Lin, Eric Taino-Justin Gimelstob and Heath Montgomery-Matt Breen in the tournament. Loren Peters, who stepped up last week and won his doubles match against Stanford with Gimelstob, is also going to compete but, because Rae Cho is suffering from an injury, his partner will be former Arizona player Ted Williams.
"Of course I would like to play with a team member," Peters said. "But it is not like you are playing in real team competition, so I don't think that it really matters that much. I still would like to play, so I want someone to play with, even if it is someone that I don't even know."
In order to make sure that the schools are not playing against themselves, the tournament spreads the teams out and puts team members in different brackets. No points are kept, but winning teams do advance.
Taino, who was sick last week and sat out against Stanford at the USTA/ITA tournament, says he is feeling better and hopes to be ready to play. The tandem of Taino and Gimelstob, 6-2, has been practically unbeatable, with only Pepperdine's Chris Hill-Michael Jessup able to upset them (twice).
"I am expecting to play against some really hard teams," said Taino. "(No. 1) Stanford and (No. 5) Pepperdine are going to be out there, so if they are making the effort, then a lot of other teams will follow, and it will make it really difficult."
No. 7 USC and No. 19 Berkeley can also be added to the list of formidable opponents. This should be a good opportunity for the Bruins to test themselves and really attend to their doubles skills.
"We don't have to worry about the singles. We are not going to be tired or anything; we just practice playing doubles," said Janecek. "I think we just need to practice and get a little sharper in doubles practice the things in doubles, poaching and sort of getting to know each other a little better too."