UCLA
Stanford
Bruins Top Cardinal to Continue Streak
April 09, 2017 | Men's Tennis
STANFORD, Calif. -- In a battle of teams riding five-match winnings streaks, the No. 10 UCLA men's tennis team rallied from a 2-0 deficit Sunday to defeat No. 19 Stanford at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, 4-2. The win marked the second of the season for the Bruins over the Cardinal, and the first in conference play. The win puts UCLA all alone atop the Pac-12 standings with a 3-0 record.
In their first action of the weekend following Friday's postponed match at No. 12 California, the Bruin pairs of No. 7 Martin Redlicki-Evan Zhu and Gage Brymer-Austin Rapp exhibited no rust in jumping out to early 2-1 leads in doubles play. Stanford stormed back, however, as the Court 2 team of No. 69 Sameer Kumar and Michael Genender topped Brymer and Rapp in a close decision, 6-4. Then, with a doubles point on the line and the home crowd behind them, Brandon Sutter and David Wilczynski clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory of their own over the Bruin pair of Maxime Cressy and Ben Goldberg on Court 3.
Coming off an upset win over a Top-5 foe in USC, Stanford looked poised to move into sole possession of first place in the Pac-12. No. 17 Tom Fawcett defeated No. 15 Brymer of UCLA on Court 1, 6-2, 6-1, to give the Cardinal a 2-0 advantage.
The tides turned on Court 5, as Austin Rapp was forced into a second-set tiebreak after capturing the first set. A hard-fought battle ultimately went the way of the Bruin junior, who held off Sutter, 6-4, 7-6 (6), to cut the Cardinal lead to 2-1. That set off a flurry of Bruin wins, as No. 42 Redlicki needed a first-set tiebreaker that he was able to ride to a two-set win over Kumar on Court 2, 7-6 (5), 6-4. With the score knotted at 2-2, Logan Staggs continued his red-hot Pac-12 play with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 110 Genender on Court 4 to give the Bruins their first advantage of the afternoon. The win marked Staggs' eighth in a row and improved his dual-match record to 13-2.
That left it up to one of the youngest Bruins to decide the latest chapter in one of the UCLA's oldest rivalries. A tiebreak was once again needed, as freshman Zhu went point-for-point with junior Wilczynski on Court 3. Tied up at five in the seven-point tiebreak, Zhu found a second gear and overcame his counterpart with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) decision to cap the Bruin rally.
Ensured a first-place spot in the standings, the Bruins will return home next week to face Utah and Arizona at Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts. The match against the Utes will begin Friday, April 14 at 3:00 p.m., while the Wildcats will check in Sunday, April 16 at 12:00 p.m.
Tennis Match Results
UCLA vs Stanford
Apr 9, 2017 at Stanford, CA
(Taube Family Tennis Stadium)
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#10 UCLA 4, #19 Stanford 2
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Doubles competition
1. Fawcett/Goldberg (STAN) vs. #7 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) 4-4, unfinished
2. #69 Genender/Kumar def. Brymer/A. Rapp (UCLA) 6-4
3. Sutter/Wilczynski (STAN) def. Cressy/Goldberg (UCLA) 6-4
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Singles competition
1. #17 Tom Fawcett (STAN) def. #11 Gage Brymer (UCLA) 6-2, 6-1
2. #42 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. Sameer Kumar (STAN) 7-6 (5), 6-4
3. Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. David Wilczynski (STAN) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
4. Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. #110 Michael Genender (STAN) 6-3, 7-5
5. Austin Rapp (UCLA) def. Brandon Sutter (STAN) 6-4, 7-6 (6)
6. William Genesen (STAN) vs. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) 4-6, 6-0, 3-2, unfinished
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Match Notes:
UCLA 14-4, 3-0; National ranking #10
Stanford 13-5, 3-1; National rankings #19
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,5,2,4,3)
Players Mentioned
