UCLA
UC Irvine
No. 2 Men's Tennis Blanks UC Irvine, 7-0 in Season Opener
January 23, 2014 | Men's Tennis
UCLA, which won five of six singles matches in straight sets, was paced on the afternoon by junior Dennis Mkrtchian, who posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Caryl Hernandez at court No. 5.
Playing in their first dual match for the Bruins, freshmen Mackenzie McDonald, Gage Brymer and Joseph Di Giulio each posted straight-set singles wins. McDonald was especially impressive at court No. 2, downing Rafael Davidian, 6-1, 6-0.
UCLA (1-0) was without the services of 11th-ranked Marcos Giron, who is playing a Challenger event in Maui this week. He won his opening match on Monday, defeating qualifier Jared Donaldson, 7-6, 6-3. He next faces former Stanford standout Bradley Klahn in the second round.
UCLA returns to action on Saturday, facing Wisconsin at Noon as part of ITA Kick Off Weekend. If the Bruins win that match, they will take on either Nebraska or Texas Tech on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The event serves as a qualification for next month's USTA/ITA National Team Indoors in Houston, Texas.
With the loss on Wednesday, UC Irvine falls to 1-6 on the season.
#2 UCLA 7, #74 UC Irvine 0
Jan 22, 2014 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
| Doubles |
| 1. Di Giulio/Thompson (UCLA) def. Cheung/Hammel (UCI) 6-2 |
| 2. Mkrtchian/Sell (UCLA) def. Justin Agbayani/Hernandez (UCI) 6-1 |
| 3. Brymer/McDonald (UCLA) vs. Pham/Shibahara (UCI) 4-3, unfinished |
UCLA Wins Doubles Point
| Singles |
| 1. #1 Clay Thompson (UCLA) def. Ryan Cheung (UCI) 6-2, 6-4 |
| 2. #62 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. Rafael Davidian (UCI) 6-1, 6-0 |
| 3. #64 Karue Sell (UCLA) def. Tyler Pham (UCI) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 4. #120 Gage Brymer (UCLA) def. Jonathan Hammel (UCI) 6-2, 6-2 |
| 5. Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) def. Caryl Hernandez (UCI) 6-0, 6-0 |
| 6. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) def. Shuhei Shibahara (UCI) 6-4, 6-4 |
| Match Notes |
| UC Irvine 1-6; National ranking #74 |
| UCLA 1-0; National ranking #2 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,2,1,4,6,3) |
Players Mentioned
