UCLA
UC Irvine
No. 1 Bruins Roll in Season Opener
January 15, 2003 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 15, 2003
LOS ANGELES - The No. 1-ranked UCLA men's tennis team swept all three doubles matches and didn't drop a set in singles play, cruising to 7-0 victory over UC Irvine in the season opener for both teams Wednesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
In their first-ever doubles match together, Bruin senior Rodrigo Grilli, who made an impressive return the courts after sitting out the fall due to injury, teamed with Marcin Matkowski at No. 1 doubles to defeat No. 11-ranked Jonathan Endrikat/Brian Morton of UCI, 8-3. The Bruins also received doubles victories from No. 39 Tobias Clemens / Lassi Ketola at No. 2 doubles and Erfan Djahangiri / Alberto Francis in the No. 3 slot.
In singles play, UCLA's top player Clemens, ranked No. 12 in the country, breezed through his match with Endrikat, winning 6-1, 6-1. Making his dual-match debut for UCLA on Wednesday, Bruin sophomore Chris Lam was also impressive, posting a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Sean O'Conner at No. 4 singles.
In addition to Clemens and Lam, UCLA also received straight-set victories from Matkowski, Djahangiri, Ketola and Francis.
The closest match of the day came at No. 6 singles where Francis edged UCI's Greg Bjorkman, 7-6(4), 7-6(3).
Next up for UCLA is the Sherwood Collegiate Cup, Jan. 17-20 at the Sherwood Country Club. Half of the team was scheduled to travel to the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Las Vegas, however that tournament has been cancelled. The Bruins' next dual match will be against Fresno State on Jan. 24 at the LATC beginning at 1:30 p.m.
