UCLA
UC Irvine
UCLA Back in Action With Three Home Matches
March 26, 2018 | Men's Tennis
Out of action since March 15, the No. 4 UCLA men's tennis team will play three matches this weekโincluding its first conference showdown of the season with No. 3 Stanford. The Bruins get started Tuesday when UC Irvine visits Los Angeles Tennis Center for a 1 p.m. start. The Cardinal drop in Friday at 3 p.m. for a top-five clash, while the Golden Bears check in Saturday at 2 p.m. The Friday and Saturday matches will represent the first home conference contests for the Bruins this season. Live stats for all matches will be available at uclalivestats.com.
UCLA VS. UCI/STANFORD/CAL
The Bruins hold an all-time record of 38-2 versus the Anteaters. Last season, UCLA did not drop a set in blanking UC Irvine, 7-0, at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts (March 29). Friday's match will mark the 124th between UCLA and Stanfordโand the second of 2018. On Feb. 4, the host Cardinal dealt the Bruins their first loss of the season, 4-3. The nonconference match was clinched at 4-1. The Bruins hold a decisive 94-13 edge over Cal, but the Golden Bears secured the most recent meetingโa 4-3 consolation-round decision at the 2017 ITA Team Indoor Championships (Feb. 19, 2017). The match was decided on Court 4, where J.T. Nishimura edged Austin Rapp, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
LAST WEEK
UCLA was on its spring break. The host Bruins defeated No. 13 Oklahoma, 5-2, in their most recent match (March 15). The Sooners secured the doubles point, but Bruins Martin Redlicki, Connor Hance, Evan Zhu and Logan Staggs won in order, without giving up a set. The clinching win marked the second in a row for Staggs.
REDLICKI NO. 1
Senior Martin Redlicki, who began the dual-match season as the nation's top-ranked player by Oracle/ITA, was again elevated to that spot on March 20. The Boca Raton, Fla. native is 17-4 (8-2 in dual matches) on the season. He holds an impressive 13-3 mark against ranked opponents. Joining Redlicki in the singles rankings are Keegan Smith (No. 45), Staggs (66) and Zhu (102). The doubles team of Smith and Austin Rapp, meanwhile, is slotted at No. 33.
HOME COOKING
UCLA's 10 wins at LATC to start the season continued a string of recent success for the Bruins on their home courts. When the Bruins defeated Ole Miss in the second round of last year's NCAA Championships, they completed their home season with a 16-0 mark at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts. Over the course of that streak at its temporary home, UCLA outscored opponents 67-13. The Bruins also held an unblemished home mark in 2015-16, as they won all 11 of their matches at LATC. Dating back to the 2014-15 season, the Bruins have won 39 consecutive home contests at LATC and Sunset Courts.
CRESSY NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Maxime Cressy earned the first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of his career following the Bruins' home win over crosstown rival and then-No. 11 USC, the conference announced March 6. The Hermosa Beach, Calif. native teamed with Bryce Pereira on Court 3 to defeat the Trojan duo of Tanner Smith-Daniel Cukierman, 7-5, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point. Then, with the Bruins clinging to a 3-2 lead, Cressy upset then-No. 112 Jack Jaede on Court 5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to clinch the overall win. The Player of the Week honor marked the 36th in program history. Bruins Zhu (Jan. 30) and Smith (Feb. 20) previously won this season. UCLA and Stanford lead the conference with three winners each.
REDLICKI WINS NO. 100
With his 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) win over Patrick Kypson of Texas A&M at the ITA Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 18, Redlicki earned the 100th singles victory of his UCLA career. The Boca Raton, Fla. native joined an elite club that includes former teammate Karue Sell (2012-16). Redlicki's top-court win over Kypson also clinched the match and put the Bruins into the ITA Indoors final. Redlicki holds a 102-29 career record.
ITA INDOORS RUN
Seventh-seeded UCLA became the lowest-seeded team to advance to an ITA Team Indoor Championships final under the current seeding system last month in Seattle. After dispatching 10-seed Illinois in the first round, 4-2, the Bruins pulled off improbable upsets of second-seeded Ohio State, 4-1, and sixth-seeded Texas A&M, 4-2. The Bruin journey would come to a close in the title match, where UCLA fell to No. 1 Wake Forest, 4-2, despite winning the doubles point. The Bruins did not once drop the doubles point during their four matches, with their Court 2 team of Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith shining the brightest. The senior-freshman duo went 3-0 on the tournament, clinching the doubles point on each occasion. The Austin Rapp-Smith team was rewarded for its performance, as it earned All-Tournament Team recognition. Smith also went on to earn the first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of his career on Feb. 20.
FALL BALL
A number of Bruins put on championship performances throughout the fall. Austin Rapp did double duty at the San Diego State Fall Invitational (Oct. 6-8), claiming the Flight 1 championships for both singles and doubles (with Goldberg). Smith took the top spot at the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament (Nov. 2-5), edging out then-No. 8 Tom Fawcett of Stanford for the singles crown. The Larry Easley Memorial Classic (Nov. 3-5) singles title went to Cressy, who also picked up the consolation championship at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup (Jan. 12-15).
PROFESSIONAL BRUINS
Dennis Novikov picked up a 6-4, 6-3 win over Christian Garin at the $50,000 Morelos Challenger, which spanned from Feb. 19-25. It marked Novikov's third Challenger title. Mackenzie McDonald, meanwhile, nearly shocked the professional tennis world Jan. 17 in second-round play at the Australian Open. The Piedmont, Calif. native, who turned professional after the 2016 season, fought third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov to five sets before falling, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6. McDonald won four qualifying matches in order to reach the main draw, where he posted a first-round victory over Elias Ymer, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. In other recent Grand-Slam action, Jean-Julien Rojer (2000-02), joined Horia Tecau to take the men's doubles title at the US Open in September. They defeated the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, 6-4, 6-3.
HEAD COACH BILLY MARTIN
Head coach Billy Martin is in his 25th season as head coach of the Bruins, and 35th on the staff. During his tenure, Martin's teams have accumulated a dozen conference championships and the 2005 NCAA title. Just two of Martin's teams have finished outside of the top five teams at the season-ending NCAA Championships. They have also not finished outside of the top three teams in the Pac-12 standings. He has earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors four times (1996, 2012-14) and the ITA National Coach of the Year award once (1996). Martin has also led three players (Benjamin Kohlloeffel in 2006, Marcos Giron in 2014 and Mackenzie McDonald in 2016) to the NCAA Singles Championship and two teams (J. Gimelstob/S. Muskatirovic in 1996 and M. McDonald/M. Redlicki in 2016) to the NCAA Doubles crown. An ITA Tennis Hall of Famer, Martin was named the "Junior Player of the Century" by Inside Tennis Magazine. Before turning pro, he played one season at UCLA (1975), during which the Bruins captured an NCAA team championship. He also won the NCAA Singles Championship. Martin holds an overall record of 562-119 (.825) overall and a 151-27 (.848) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
