UCLA
Arizona State
UCLA Hits the Road for Arizona State, Arizona
April 12, 2018 | Men's Tennis
The No. 2 UCLA men's tennis team (20-2, 5-0) is on the road this week, leaving the state of California for the first time in over a month. The Bruins will pay their first visit to Tempe, Ariz. since 2008, as they take on the No. 33 Sun Devils (13-7, 2-2) in a Friday evening affair. First serve from Whiteman Tennis Center is scheduled for 5 p.m. ASU Live-Stream 2 will provide streaming video. Sunday at noon, the Bruins head to the Lanelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson, Ariz. for another conference showdown, this time with Arizona (15-11, 0-5).
UCLA VS. ARIZONA STATE/ARIZONA
The Bruins hold an all-time record of 62-3 versus Arizona State. The Sun Devil men's tennis program was recently reinstated by the school following a nine-year absence. Versus Arizona, meanwhile, UCLA has won 69 of 70 matches. Last year, the Bruins picked up a 4-0 home win over the Wildcats (April 16). Returnee Evan Zhu defeated Trent Botha, 6-2, 6-2, to clinch the match.
LAST WEEK
The Bruins edged USC in a match fit for the storied rivalry (April 6). Neither team led by more than one point in the Pac-12 showdown, with three tiebreakers needed to decide it. Ultimately, it was Bruin Maxime Cressy who secured the 4-3 win with 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 Court-5 victory over Riley Smith. The Trojans picked up the doubles point in front of a raucous crowd at Marks Tennis Stadium, but the Bruins ran off four of six singles victories, including the second clincher versus USC this season for the junior from Hermosa Beach, Calif.
TOP-RANKED BRUINS
For the first time since the poll's introduction, the Bruins were elevated to the top spot in the April 4 edition of the USTA College Tennis Top 25. They remained there this week. UCLA is No. 2 in the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings, with the most recent version released April 10. 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 and has remained there since. The Boca Raton, Fla. native is 19-4 (10-2 in dual matches) on the season. He holds an impressive 15-3 mark against ranked opponents. Joining Redlicki in the singles rankings are Bruins Smith (No. 55), Zhu (81) and Staggs (87). The doubles team of Austin Rapp-Smith, meanwhile, is slotted at No. 11, while Redlicki-Zhu is No. 59.
CRESSY NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cressy was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for April 10, the conference announced Tuesday. With all eyes on Court 5, Cressy captured a winner-take-all third set from USC's Riley Smith to secure a 4-3 winโthe Bruins' ninth straight overall. In front of a raucous road crowd, the junior rebounded from a lost second-set tiebreaker to take charge and record the 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 triumph. For good measure, the Hermosa Beach, Calif. teamed with Bryce Pereira on Court 3 to defeat the Trojan tandem of Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith, 6-3, in doubles play. The award marked the second of Cressy's career. He previously earned the weekly honor March 6, following a clinching win versus USC in nonconference play. Bruins have collected a conference-best five Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season (Cressy โ March 6, April 10; Zhu โ Jan. 30, April 3; Smith โ Feb. 20). No other team has more than three. As a program, UCLA has won 38 all-time awards.
HOME COOKING
UCLA's 13 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 42 consecutive home contests at LATC and Sunset Courts.
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 104-29 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 566-119 (.826) overall and a 154-27 (.851) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
