UA men looking for turnaround against winless Arizona State

Arizona (5-7 overall, 0-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) plays Arizona State in Tempe today in the first meeting of the season. The match begins at 1 p.m. at the Whiteman Tennis Center.

The No. 50 Sun Devils are also winless in the conference with six losses.

"We just have to do what we do best - each of us individually have to fall back on our strengths," UA senior Roland Kupka said. "There's nothing magical about it. We just have to work hard and try hard."

The No. 62 Wildcats did not play well on their road trip over the weekend in Bay Area, dropping both matches by the score of 6-1.

"It always hurts to get beat so badly," Kupka said. "We're a little bit frustrated, but we're trying to think positively."

UA head coach Bill Wright is convinced his team will have little trouble placing balls in the right places today.

"We're gonna back bounce back beautifully," he said.

Arizona State (8-8, 0-6) is struggling as well, losing to Stanford and Cal over the weekend.

"ASU and us are at about the same level, so it is very likely it (the match) will come down to the doubles point. So we have to focus on both singles and doubles," Kupka said.

Arizona State is led by Sergio Elias, a senior who is 8-11 in dual matches in the Sun Devils' top position. Freshman Ed Carter has posted an 11-4 record in Arizona State's lower positions this season.

Arizona finished 2-0 against the Sun Devils last season with 6-1 and 4-3 victories.

Senior Henrik Wagner is Arizona's No. 1 with a 3-7 record in singles. He broke into the ITA/Rolex men's singles ranking for the first time this season at No. 94 this week.

Arizona State has no one ramked.

The Sun Devils are the youngest team in the Pac-10 with a single senior, four sophomores and six freshmen.

Wright expects the Wildcats to get stronger once freshman Jean-Noel Lacoste and junior transfer Jerome Oliveri strengthen their game after suffering injuries.

"I think we're going to get a lot better," Wright said.

Arizona, which has four newcomers to the team, should have no problem understanding the strong rivalry between it and ASU.

"Oh sure, they get the picture, you know, through football season," Wright said. "They (the team) know they're (ASU) only 100 miles away. They feel their breath."