Trojans fall to Bruins in Pac-12 championships

For any national champion, the pressure to repeat is intense. Though the USC men’s tennis team, the winner of the last four national championships, has demonstrated a capability to defend its titles all season long, this weekend was an exception to the rule. The Trojans faltered against No. 1 UCLA, falling 4-2 in the Pac-12 championships in Ojai, Calif.

The No. 5 Trojans (23-4, 5-1 Pac-12) were slotted as the second seed                            in the Pac-12 championships after surrendering the regular-season      Pac-12 title to their crosstown rivals, the UCLA Bruins (24-1, 7-0 Pac-12).

In that matchup, the Trojans won the doubles point, but the Bruins were too sharp in singles to be overcome and notched a 4-3 win over USC in the final match of the regular season. USC was seeded second in last year’s tournament as well, but pulled off a victory against UCLA to take home the Pac-12 championship title.

In this year’s tournament, the Trojans enjoyed a first-round bye before taking on fourth-seeded California (14-9, 5-1) in the semifinals. When the teams met earlier this season, USC did not drop a set en route to a 7-0 beatdown of the Bears.

This time around, the Trojans opened up the match by conceding the doubles point but turned it around and moved on to the finals with a 4-1 victory. The day belonged to the Trojan sophomores, with straight-set wins coming from sophomores Yannick Hanfmann, Roberto Quiroz and Eric Johnson along with a comeback victory by sophomore Jonny Wang.

Throughout the tournament, USC was without the talents of junior co-captain Emilio Gomez, ranked No. 4 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and freshman standout Max de Vroome. Both are nursing injuries and trying to get healthy in time for the NCAA tournament, and though they both competed in doubles play, they sat out in singles, which may have been the deciding factor in USC’s 4-2 loss to UCLA in the finals of the Pac-12 tournament.

“We knew it was going to be tough regardless of whether or not Emilio and Max could have played,” Wang said. “But we put that aside and focused on our matches rather than worrying.”

The Trojans acquired an early lead against the Bruins behind strong doubles wins by Hanfmann and junior co-captain Ray Sarmiento on court one and de Vroome and Johnson on court three. USC extended its lead to 2-0 when No. 65 Hanfmann upset UCLA’s No. 18 Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-1.

That was to be the Trojans’ last point of the day, though, as the Bruins roared back to capture the next four singles matches.

UCLA’s Karue Sell, the only unranked player on either team in singles, defeated No. 94 junior co-captain Michael Grant 6-3, 6-1 while UCLA’s No. 24 Adrien Puget took down No. 34 Quiroz 6-1, 6-2 to tie the score at 2-2.

Next, No. 80 Johnson fell in a close match to UCLA’s No. 74 Dennis Mkrtchian 7-6, 6-4, allowing the Bruins to clinch the match when an energetic No. 116 Clay Thompson topped No. 93 Wang 7-6, 6-4.

All the while, No. 17 Sarmiento was locked in a battle on court one with a familiar foe in UCLA’s No. 25 Dennis Novikov. The match was suspended after Wang’s defeat with Sarmiento up a break in the third set at 6-4, 3-6, 4-2.

Though the loss — the third this season to their crosstown rivals — is frustrating, the Trojans refuse to dwell on it, constantly reminding themselves that an unprecedented fifth consecutive NCAA championship is their ultimate goal this season. The team will have the chance to make progress toward that goal next month, as it will likely host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament at Marks Stadium on May 10 and 11.

USC head coach Peter Smith has repeatedly emphasized his willingness to lose if it means growing and having success in the NCAA tournament, a sentiment echoed by his players.

“It’s disappointing that we lost,” Wang said, “but I know we’ll come back stronger.”