By Gilbert Quiñonez
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA men’s tennis had three doubles teams advance to the
Sweet 16 in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships, but none of
them could advance further. Sixty-four of the best doubles teams in
the nation took part in the tournament, won by USC’s Ryan
Moore and Nick Rainey.
UCLA’s Marcin Matkowski and Jean-Julien Rojer, ranked No.
1 nationally, cruised through the first two rounds, winning 6-0,
6-1 and 6-1, 6-4. In the Round of 16, however, they were upset by
Pepperdine’s Calle Hansen and Brian Wright, 4-6, 6-3,
6-3.
“They might have been a little disappointing, they are the
No. 1 doubles team,” UCLA head coach Billy Martin said.
“But (Hansen and Wright) just played better, they played
great.”
UCLA’s Tobias Clemens and Erfan Djahangiri also advanced
to the Round of 16, where they lost to No. 5 Sebastian Graeff and
Stefan Suter 7-6, 3-6, 6-1.
Clemens usually plays doubles with Lassi Ketola, but was forced
to adjust with a new partner, Djahangiri, after Ketola
couldn’t make the trip because of academic commitments.
“It’s always difficult to play with a new doubles
partner,” Clemens said. “Doubles is always about
communication. We won two matches, and lost to a team that had beat
the No. 1 team in the country.”
The third Bruin pair of Alberto Francis and Rodrigo Grilli also
won their first two matches easily, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-3, and lost
to No. 1 Stanford’s Ryan Haviland and K.J. Hippensteel 6-4,
6-3.