The Spirit of ’65 Might Still Be There for UCLA

Seldom is a coach handed a more nearly perfect setup for an inspirational speech than the one that has landed in UCLA tennis Coach Billy Martin’s lap.

The angle: UCLA is host of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament, which runs Saturday through May 25. The last time the Bruins were the host team, in 1965, a UCLA player named Arthur Ashe won the singles and doubles titles to help UCLA win the team title.

Martin says he has invoked the historical significance of Ashe and the NCAA tournament enough times that his team has long since gotten the picture.

“Yeah, they’ve about had it with that speech,” he said, laughing.

He’s now relying on more standard, and obvious, motivational techniques to spur his team to both team and individual titles. The Bruins, who have already won the national indoor title this year, are seeded No. 1 in the team tournament.

“I’m hoping that the home-court advantage--the idea that they can look up into the stands and see some friendly faces--will help the team,” Martin said.

The Bruins have won 15 team titles, the most recent in 1984. Martin can at least speak from the experience of having been there. In 1975 he won the NCAA singles title and helped the Bruins to the team title.

Winning the team title again is the avowed goal of Martin and his team.

“From Day 1, we’ve all been very clear as to what our goal is--to win the team title,” Martin said. “That is the ultimate goal. Believe me, individual titles are great. But we want that team title.”

The mere fact that UCLA is host of the tournament is a testament to hard work by many people in college tennis. The tournament has been held in Athens, Ga., for 18 of the last 20 years. Few thought the event would ever be pried off the Georgia campus, where only once did attendance dip under 10,000.

But coaches got fed up with what they perceived as a definite home-court advantage for Georgia.

“It got to be an issue with college coaches,” Martin said. “There was concern about a level playing field. We put it to a vote of Division I coaches. Something like 80% voted that it should rotate.

“It has been a little political. One of the things against us is that people thought that the California schools--Pepperdine, USC, UCLA and Stanford--are so strong that it would have been an unfair advantage to have the tournament in the state.”

After bidding for 13 consecutive years, Martin can get used to that kind of advantage.

The only two years in the past 20 that the tournament was held outside Georgia were 1990, when USC was the host at the Hyatt Grand Champions at Indian Wells, and 1994 at Notre Dame. Both times attendance was lower than at Athens.

Martin won’t say that, should attendance at this year’s tournament be lower than hoped, the rotation system will be abandoned, but he understands the pressure to fill the stands. The NCAA will be pleased with the gate, and UCLA will be pleased with the fan support.

The Bruins will need it. Last season, UCLA was a heavy favorite to win the title but failed to do so, losing to Stanford in the championship match.

This year there are several contenders besides UCLA, which began the season ranked second and spent the last half of it at No. 1. Also in contention are perennial powers Stanford, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Boise State, coached by former UC Irvine coach Greg Patton.

Play for the team championship runs Saturday through May 20. For the first two days, matches will be played at both the Los Angeles Tennis Center courts on campus and the Sunset courts, which are near the Westwood Boulevard entrance off Sunset Boulevard. Beginning May 19, all matches will be at the LATC.

Doubles and singles begin May 21 at the LATC.

Ticket information: (310) 825-2946.

MEANWHILE . . .

Speaking of home-court advantages . . . The NCAA women’s tournament is at Stanford, the odds-on favorite.

The women’s tournament has the same format as the men’s, with team and individual competition beginning Thursday.

First-year UCLA Coach Stella Sampras has guided the Bruins to a 15-5 record, with a sophomore and two freshmen in her top three. UCLA is seeded No. 4.

Local players selected for individual play:

Singles--Annica Cooper, Kati Kocsis, Katia Roubanova and Elizabeth Schmidt from UCLA, and Zsofia Csapo and Isabela Petrov from Pepperdine.

Doubles: Schmidt-Roubanova, Cooper-Kocsis from UCLA and Petrov-Angela Lawrence, Csapo-Anna Svedenhow from Pepperdine.

No USC players were selected.