Men's tennis Ojai tune-up cut short by unlucky Friday

Published: Monday, May 1, 1995

By Sarah Harrison

OJAI, Calif. -- This weekend at the Pac-10 Championships, the UCLA men's tennis team had its last chance to get rid of all of the kinks before the NCAA Regionals.

Unfortunately, the Bruins' practice time was cut short, as every UCLA player that remained in singles after Thursday's first round of competition lost Friday in the quarterfinals. Only the tandem of Justin Gimelstob and Eric Taino represented UCLA Saturday, but they would go no further than that.

As the NCAAs draw closer, the amount of time that the Bruins have to practice and prepare is getting smaller. This tournament provided an opportunity for players to get back on track, refocus and concentrate on playing well.

There were no titles on the line and no teams to be responsible for; it was merely an individual tournament. Only three out of the five Bruins that entered the tournament survived until the quarterfinals on Friday, and only one out of the two doubles teams made it to the second round.

Thursday saw the end of Matt Breen, who lost to Manuel Ramirez in a long three-set match. Heath Montgomery also dropped his first match on Thursday, losing to Stanford's Scott Humphries. Humphries went on to upset the No. 1 seed and the No. 1-ranked player in the nation, Sargis Sargsian, and ended up playing in the final match against California's Michael Hill.

UCLA captain Robert Janecek sailed through Thursday's competition, beating Arizona's Jack Enfield and USC's Fernando Samayoa. Janecek looked like he was back in form until he met with USC's Brett Hansen on Friday. Hansen has given Janecek trouble all season, beating him all three times they have met . This time was no exception as Janecek lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, to end his singles tournament play.

Friday was an unfortunate day for Janecek, as he and Lin were eliminated in doubles by Arizona State's Dave Critchley and Sargsian, 6-4, 7-6. This came after they had passed the first round, beating Washington tandem Ornello Arlati and Nick Williams.

Janecek's teammate Taino also found hardships. Taino defeated Oregon's Hans Forsberg and USC's Adam Peterson to make it to Friday, but then lost to Michael Hill, 6-2, 6-4. Hill has been successful against UCLA in the past, defeating Janecek on April 8, 6-4, 6-3, and Gimelstob on April 21, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3.

Another UCLA nemesis proved to be Jeff Salzenstein, who eliminated Gimelstob. Gimelstob performed well in the previous round, easily beating both Arizona State's Tsolak Gavorkian and Arizona's Jan Anderson in straight sets, but faltered against Salzenstein.

Salzenstein defeated Gimelstob in a previous meeting on April 22, 6-4, 6-4. Gimelstob was able to force him to three sets Friday in Ojai, taking the second set with a decisive 6-1 score. But he could not continue his momentum as Salzenstein won the third and final set, 7-5.

Gimelstob got some revenge on Salzenstein, as he and Taino knocked Salzenstein and fellow Cardinal Grant Elliot out of the doubles in the second round. This was the last win for the Bruins as another Stanford duo, Paul Goldstein and Humphries, beat the tandem on Saturday.