The Oregon men’s tennis team will be fighting to put itself into position for an NCAA Tournament berth when it faces two of the top four teams in the country in UCLA and Southern California at home Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“There is a sense of urgency for us to get in the NCAA team tournament because right now we’re on the bubble,” Oregon head coach Chris Russell said.
Oregon is ranked No. 46 in the country and, with 34 at-large bids available for the 64-team NCAA Tournament, the Ducks could put themselves in a favorable position with an upset over either USC or UCLA.
Fourth-ranked UCLA travels into town today, led by the No. 6 player in the country, Tobias Clemens. The Bruins got a boost last week when junior Luben Pampoulov made his Bruin debut. Pampoulov was a No. 1-ranked junior player in his homeland of Austria and breezed to two straight-set victories in the No. 2 singles position against Stanford and California.
UCLA brings a deep team to Eugene and is on a five-match winning streak, outscoring its opponents 33-2. All the Bruins’ singles players are ranked, with the exception of Pampoulov, and Russell said that will make it a tough match for the Ducks.
“Their depth and experience give them an advantage,” Russell said. “They’re confident coming in here and expect to drop the hammer on us.”
However, Russell believes if his team comes out with the right frame of mind, they can pull off an upset.
“If we have the mentality that this is a great opportunity to pull of an upset and play with enthusiasm instead of trying to play outside ourselves, I think we’ll have a chance,” Russell said.
The Bruins did lose to Arizona State this season, a team that the Ducks defeated last week.
“Our doubles teams have been playing well and if we can get on them early, you never know what will happen,” Russell said.
Russell doesn’t expect that his top two singles players, 35th-ranked Sven Swinnen and 88th-ranked Manuel Kost, will be intimidated.
“Swinn and Manu have won against top-10 players and know what it takes to win these kind of matches,” Russell said.
The Ducks face an even bigger challenge Saturday when they face third-ranked USC. The Trojans come with a 16-2 record, their best start since their 1994 national championship season.
USC also has a deep arsenal, with five singles players ranked in the top 100. Leading the way for the Trojans is 23rd-ranked senior Adriano Biasella. Biasella has gone 14-4 this season, including victories over UCLA’s Clemens and Stanford’s 11th-ranked Sam Warburg.
The Ducks are 0-9 all-time against the Trojans, but almost pulled out a win the last time USC came to town in 2002, losing 4-3.
“We are going to have to come out with our A-game and play to win if we want to be successful against USC,” Russell said. “We don’t expect them to give us anything and have to play with the mentality that we have nothing to lose.”