The Stanford men’s tennis team heads to the 2008 Pac-10 Championships this weekend, in the team’s final tune-up for the NCAA team championships in May. However, this weekend will be no small event, with the Pac-10’s best gathering for a weekend of great tennis.

“It’s always a great event,” head coach John Whitlinger said. “It’s a thrill to play in the Pac-10 championships. We’ve been lucky to have a lot of success there in the past.”

The Cardinal is definitely no stranger to success when it comes to the Pac-10 tournament. In tournament history, a player from Stanford has won the singles title 12 out of 21 years. The doubles title has belonged to a Stanford duo for nine out of 21 years.

Stanford singles champions have included Patrick McEnroe, Bob Bryan, and Sam Warburg. Bob and Mike Bryan, KC Corkery and Sam Warburg, and current juniors Matt Bruch and Blake Muller have all been doubles champions.

Additionally, the Pac-10 singles champion has come from Stanford the last four years. Having a fifth straight champion might be a little more difficult this year.

Bruch, the two-time defending Pac-10 singles champion, will not be back to defend his title this year. He has an injury and is letting it rest before the NCAA tournament at the beginning of May.

Also joining Bruch on the sidelines is Stanford’s top player this year, freshman Alex Clayton. Clayton — who leads the team with a 25-7 singles record and a No. 7 national ranking — also has an injury.

But those injuries should not overshadow the slew of Cardinal players entered in the tournament this weekend in Ojai, Calif. There are two brackets, a Championship and an Invitational bracket, with the Championship bracket being the primary one.

Four Stanford players are entered in the Championship bracket: Muller, senior Phil Kao, sophomore Richard Wire and freshman Greg Hirshman. Muller will play Washington’s Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in the first round this morning, while Kao will take on the No. 4 seed in the tournament, Claudio Christen from Arizona.

Wire will take on UCLA’s Jeremy Drean in his first round matchup, while Hirshman plays No. 3 seed Matt Brooklyn from Arizona State.

In the Invitational bracket, Stanford also has four players competing. Freshman Ted Kelly will take on Oregon’s Mikael Myrhed this morning in the first round, and junior Jeff Zeller will play Wes Miller from Arizona State.

Sophomores Kevin Kaiser and Paul Morrissey round out Stanford’s singles competitors. Kaiser will play Nathan Cochrane from Arizona in the first round, and Morrissey will battle Stephen Wiechert of Oregon.

In doubles, two Stanford teams will compete in the Championship bracket. Muller and Kelly, who had much success together earlier this year, will play Alex Cornelisen and Marcos Verdasco from Oregon in the first round. A possible match-up with the No. 2-seeded Brooklyn and TJ Bellama from Arizona State waits if Muller and Kelly are victorious in round one.

Wire and Hirshman, Stanford’s best doubles team this year (a 19-10 record), drew the No. 1 seed, Robert Farah and Kaes Van’t Hof of USC. The Trojan duo is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation.

In the Invitational doubles, Kao and Zeller will team up against Martin Kildahl and Tobi Obenaus from Washington in the first round, while Kaiser and Morrissey will play Jack Marsh and Murilo Souza from Arizona State.

This weekend will be a great way for players to get match experience in before the team championships start.

“A lot of guys get to play [this weekend],” Whitlinger said. “We go down there to get match play in and continue to get better.”

“[The Pac-10 tournament] is a good way to keep our focus and intensity going into NCAAs,” said Zeller.

Stanford has had a lot of success in singles over the past few matches, which bodes well for this weekend and beyond. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about doubles, in which Stanford has struggled recently.

“We have been struggling the last few matches with our doubles,” Muller said. “But the way everyone has been battling back in the singles is great to see.

“I’m feeling really confident going into Ojai and NCAAs,” he continued. “I think once we get our full line-up back and with the way everyone has been playing and competing, we can beat anyone.”

The Pac-10 tournament will last four days, with the first round of singles starting this morning and the first round of doubles starting tomorrow. The championship matches are set to be played on Sunday.